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(J^riental  Series 

JAPAN  AND  CHINA 

SATSUMA  EDITION 


Limited  to  Five  Hundred  Numbered  and  Registered 
Copies^  of  which  this  is 


N u M B E R . . . 


JAPAN 

Its  History  Arts  and  Literature 


BY 

CAPTAIN  F.  BRINKLEY 


Volume  VIII 
KERAMIC  ART 


ILL  VSr RATED 


J.  B.  MILLET  COMPANY 

BOSTON  AND  TOKYO 


Copyright^  igoi 

By  J.  B.  Millet  Co. 


Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall,  London,  England 


CONTENTS 


Early  Wares  . . 

Page 

CHAPTER  I 

Wares  of  Hizen  . 

CHAPTER  II 

39 

CHAPTER  III 

Wares  of  Satsuma  (Kagoshima  Prefecture)  . . 131 


Wares  of  Ky5to 

CHAPTER  IV 

CHAPTER  V 

Wares  of  Kaga  (Ishikawa)  Prefecture  ....  236 

CHAPTER  VI 

Wares  of  Owari,  or  Bishiu,  and  Mino  ....  261 

CHAPTER  VII 

Miscellaneous  Wares 307 

CHAPTER  VIII 

Modern  Developments  of  Japanese  Keramics  . . 41 1 


Appendix 
Index  . . 


427 

431 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 

Satsuma  Faience Frontispiece 

Specimens  of  Pottery  Taken  from  Dolmens  ....  i6 

Shapes  of  Dolmen  Pottery 28 

Sake  Bottle 32 

Korean  Faience 48 

Nabeshima  Porcelain 64 

Imari 80 

Faience  Cha-Tsubo 96 

Hirado  Ware . . . 1 1 2 

Hirado  Porcelain 128 

Tea  Jar  . . . Water  Vessel  . . . Takaton  Ware  . . 144 

Tea-Pot  of  Blue  and  White  Porcelain 192 

Shuntai-Yaki  Vase  . . . E-Hagi  Faience  . . . E-Garatsu  208 

Awaji  Faience 240 

Bowl  of  Faience  (Kenzan) 272 

Faience  (Hozen)  . . . Kutani  Porcelain 304 

Polychromatic  Banko  Faience 320 

Bizen  Ware 336 

Maiko  Ware  . . . Akahada  Ware 368 

Fukakusa  Ware  . . . Faience  (Koemon)  . . . Arita 

Porcelain 384 

IgaWare  . . . Soma  Ware  . . . Tachibana-Hada  Ware  400 


VIII 


JAPAN 

ITS  HISTORY  ARTS  AND 
LITERATURE 


Chapter  I 

EARLT  WARES 

IN  Japan,  as  in  most  other  countries,  the  manu- 
facture of  pottery  has  been  carried  on  for  many 
centuries,  but  the  earliest  history  of  the  art  is 
very  obscure.  Japanese  archaeologists  have  been 
accustomed  to  speak  of  Kameoka  ware  as  the  oldest 
produced  in  their  country,  and  unquestionably  the 
quality  of  the  ware  indicates  an  altogether  rudimen- 
tary stage  of  manufacture,  the  specimens  to  which  the 
name  is  given  being  vessels  of  rough  pottery,  irregu- 
lar in  shape,  unglazed,  and  entirely  without  orna- 
mentation. The  term  “ Kameoka  ” is  assigned  to 
them  because  they  have  been  exhumed  in  exceptional 
profusion  in  the  Kameoka  region  of  northern  Japan, 
but  they  may  be  more  intelligibly  described  as  the 
pottery  of  the  aborigines  whom  the  invading  Japanese 
immigrants  displaced.  Hence  they  do  not  properly 
find  a place  in  the  history  of  Japanese  keramics,  since 
they  were  the  work  of  a different  race,  and  since 
their  manufacture  never  passed  to  a higher  stage  of 
development. 

VOL.  VIII, I 


I 


JAPAN 

Civilisation  was  brought  to  Japan  by  a Mongoloid 
invasion  or  immigration  at  a date  which  historians 
have  hitherto  failed  to  fix  with  any  accuracy,  but 
which  was  certainly  several  centuries  — probably  six 
or  seven — before  the  Christian  era.  The  new-comers 
did  not  represent  an  advanced  stage  of  material  prog- 
ress. They  knew  nothing  of  iron,  and  used  only 
bronze  implements,  and  their  keramic  successes  were 
confined  to  the  production  of  rude,  hand-made  pot- 
tery, scarcely  superior  to  that  of  the  aborigines  men- 
tioned above.  What  is  known  of  these  earliest 
Mongoloid  invaders  has  been  gathered  from  the  con- 
tents of  the  mounds  in  which  they  buried  their  dead. 
Following  them  at  an  interval  of  probably  five  cen- 
turies— it  is  still  necessary  to  avoid  explicitness  — 
came  another  tide  of  Mongoloid  invaders,  who 
brought  with  them  a knowledge  of  iron-smelting 
and  of  the  potter's  wheel,  and  whose  ideas  of  form 
and  decoration  indicated  a much  higher  grade  of  civ- 
ilisation than  that  of  their  predecessors.  The  story 
of  these  second  comers  does  not  exist  in  the  pages  of 
history.  It  is  told  only  by  the  ‘‘  dolmens " which 
they  constructed  for  purposes  of  interment,  and  as  to 
the  contents  of  those  dolmens  mention  need  not  be 
made  here  of  anything  but  pottery. 

The  Dolmen  pottery  is  divided  into  three  groups 
by  Mr.  W.  Gowland,  — who  has  made  a specialty  of 
the  study  of  these  interesting  tombs  and  their  con- 
tents,— namely,  ‘Tightly  burned  terra-cotta,"  “hard- 
burned  earthenware,"  and  “ coarse  terra-cotta."  It 
indicates,  in  short,  that  although  its  makers  under- 
stood the  use  of  the  wheel  and  had  some  conception 
of  decorative  effect,  they  knew  nothing  of  translucid 
porcelain,  and  were  not  even  able  to  apply  glaze  to 

2 


EARLY  WARES 

their  wares.  It  is  possible  to  make  these  statements 
with  confidence,  because  the  dolmens  yield  an  abun- 
dance of  pottery,  some  of  which  was  doubtless  used 
at  burial  services,  and  some  in  subsequent  ceremonies. 
The  surface  decoration,  even  in  the  best  examples,  is 
rude,  being  confined  to  elementary  diapers  of  straight 
lines  or  curves  “ scratched  in  the  clay  when  soft  with 
a single-pointed  tool,  or  with  combs  having  a varying 
number  of  teeth.”  (Gowland.)  Often  the  surface 
of  larger  vessels  shows  an  impressed  pattern,  evidently 
produced  by  contact  with  straw  matting,  and  on  the 
interior  are  found  concentric  circles  overlapping, 
without  any  apparent  attempt  at  orderly  arrangement. 
Japanese  archaeologists  regard  these  circles  as  an 
ornamental  diaper  introduced  from  Korea,  and  con- 
sequently give  to  them  the  name  Chosen-guruma 
(Korean  wheel-pattern),  or  Chosen-nami  (Korean  wave- 
pattern)  ; but  it  has  not  been  proved  that  any 
such  decoration  was  applied  by  the  Koreans  in 
ancient  times.  A more  credible  explanation  is  that 
the  marking  was  the  result  of  a manufacturing  pro- 
cess. While  slowly  turning  the  wheel,  the  potter 
pressed  against  the  inside  of  the  vessel  a wooden 
stamp,  having  concentric  circles  cut  on  its  head,  and 
at  the  same  time  beat  the  outside  with  a wooden 
paddle  wrapped  in  straw  matting.  Thus  the  circular 
marking  on  the  interior,  and  the  pattern  of  meshes 
and  lines  on  the  exterior,  were  the  outcome  of  a 
process  for  annealing  the  clay. 

The  student  naturally  turns  to  the  shapes  of  this 
pottery,  hoping  to  discover  from  them  indications  of 
affinity  between  the  dolmen-builders  and  some  histor- 
ically known  race  of  Europe  or  Asia.  There  is, 
indeed,  something  to  reward  such  a scrutiny.  In  the 

3 


JAPAN 

first  place,  two  kinds  of  tazza  are  found,  one  with 
a cover,  the  other  without,  which  have  their  coun- 
terparts in  Chinese  porcelains  of  mediaeval  times. 
Further,  the  well-known  ‘‘pilgrim  bottle*’  of  Chinese 
keramists  and  of  Cypriote  relics  is  present,  having  either 
complete  loops  for  the  passage  of  the  suspensory 
cord,  or  partial  loops  for  its  retention.  Mr.  Gowland 
also  notes  a small,  barrel-shaped  vessel,  occasionally 
found  in  dolmens,  which  resembles  a Cypriote  form, 
and  which  has  no  representative  among  Chinese 
vessels.  Much  more  suggestive,  however,  than  these 
resemblances  is  the  method  of  ornamentation  in  high 
relief  seen  on  important  specimens  of  ornamental 
pottery  taken  from  dolmens.  The  student  is  here 
confronted  with  a decorative  fashion  never  followed 
in  either  China  or  Korea,  namely,  the  modelling  of 
figure  subjects  and  other  objects  on  the  shoulders  of 
vases.  It  is  a fashion  constantly  adopted  by  the  pot- 
ters of  Greece  and  of  Cyprus  in  ancient  times,  and  its 
frequent  presence  in  Apulian  and  Cypriote  relics,  com- 
bined with  its  absence  from  the  works  of  Chinese  and 
Korean  potters,  suggests  an  interesting  range  of  spec- 
ulation. But  on  the  other  hand  has  to  be  set  the  fact 
that  this  kind  of  decoration  did  not  survive  the  dol- 
men period  in  Japan  itself.  It  disappeared  as  com- 
pletely as  though  it  had  never  existed.  Thus,  if  from 
the  above  facts  the  student  infers  a racial  distinction 
between  the  dolmen-building  Japanese  and  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  Asiatic  continent’s  neighbouring  regions, 
he  will  be  logically  compelled  to  infer  a similar 
distinction  between  the  dolmen-builders  and  the 
Japanese  of  later  times.  However,  racial  affinities 
need  not  be  discussed  here.  It  is  enough  to  note 
the  not  unremarkable  similarity  of  decorative  concep- 

4 


EARLY  WARES 

tion  shown  in  the  works  of  the  Japanese  immigrants 
and  those  of  southern  Europe.  Another  point  worthy 
of  attention  is  that  the  potters  of  the  dolmen  era 
seem  to  have  had  no  acquaintance  with  the  decorative 
motives  which  are  inseparably  associated  with  Chi- 
nese applied  art,  dragons,  phoenixes,  tigers,  the  key- 
pattern,  and  elaborate  diapers.  In  the  mediaeval 
days,  when  Japan  went  to  the  Chinese  for  keramic 
instruction,  she  found  all  these  designs,  and  adopted 
them  permanently.  But  the  dolmen-builders  were 
ignorant  of  them. 

It  has  plausibly  been  conjectured  that  the  figures 
of  men  and  animals  modelled  in  high  relief  on  the 
shoulders  of  dolmen-vases  were  sometimes  intended 
to  depict  the  pursuits  or  pastimes  specially  affected  by 
the  deceased  during  life,  as  hunting,  wrestling,  and  so 
on.  Were  that  the  case,  a natural  expectation  would 
be  that  battle-scenes  would  occasionally  appear  on  the 
sepulchral  vases  of  men  who  are  believed  to  have  been 
constantly  engaged  in  war  with  the  aborigines.  But 
there  is  nothing  of  the  kind. 

The  coarse  terra-cotta  objects  of  Mr.  Gowland’s 
classification  are  not  the  least  interesting  among  dolmen 
relics.  They  consist  of  figures  of  men,  women,  and 
horses  which  were  erected  on  dolmens  in  lieu  of  the 
human  sacrifices  made  at  funeral  rites  in  earlier  ages. 
From  a technical  or  artistic  point  of  view  these  objects 
deserve  little  notice,  whatever  value  they  may  have 
for  the  historian  and  the  archeologist.  They  were 
mere  rudimentary  effigies,  made  of  half-burned  coarse 
pottery,  and  such  of  them  as  have  survived  owe  their 
preservation  to  the  accident  of  having  been  overturned 
and  covered  with  earth  which  protected  them  against 
climatic  influences.  Keramists  who  manufactured  the 

5 


JAPAN 

ornamental  vases  described  above,  evidently  did  not  ex- 
haust their  skill  upon  these  clumsy  productions.  The 
figures  were  called  hani-wa^  which  literally  means 
‘‘  circle  of  clay,’’  an  appellation  derived  from  the  order 
in  which  they  were  arranged,  namely,  as  a circular 
fence  about  the  grave.  A book  [Wamyd-sho)  published 
in  the  tenth  century,  defines  hani-wa  as  ‘‘  human  figures 
made  of  clay,  placed  upright  in  cart-wheel  order  round 
the  edge  of  a sepulchral  mound.”  The  need  of  such 
objects  for  burial  purposes  led  to  the  establishment 
of  a keramic  factory  under  the  auspices  of  the  Court, 
the  potters  employed  there,  one  hundred  in  number, 
being  summoned  from  the  provinces  of  Izumo.  It 
appears,  therefore,  that  Izumo  was  a centre  of  ke- 
ramic production  at  the  date  when  clay  effigies  were 
substituted  for  human  sacrifices,  and'  there  would 
consequently  be  some  interest  in  determining  that 
date.  The  Nihongi,  which  is  the  oldest  Japanese 
compilation  having  any  claims  to  be  called  histori- 
cal, assigns  the  incident  to  a time  corresponding  with 
the  commencement  of  the  Christian  era,  but  hani-wa 
have  been  found  in  dolmens  believed  to  belong  to 
an  earlier  epoch.  At  all  events  it  seems  safe  to 
allege  that,  nineteen  centuries  ago,  the  keramic  in- 
dustry had  an  officially  recognised  status  in  Japan, 
and  that  it  flourished  chiefly  in  Izumo.^  From  the 
time  of  the  establishment  of  the  Yamato  factory  the 
making  of  hani-wa  became  such  an  important  feature 
of  the  keramic  industry  that  potters  received  the 
appellation  of  hanhhi  (abbreviated  afterwards  in  hajt)^ 
or  makers  of  hani-wa, 

Japanese  annals  allege  that  just  about  the  time 
when  the  above  events  were  occurring,  a Korean 


* See  Appendix,  note  i . 


6 


EARLY  WARES 

potter  named  Ama-no-Hibako  arrived  in  Japan  and 
settled  there  for  the  purpose  of  practising  his  art ; 
that  he  established  a kiln  in  the  province  of  Omi, 
and  that  during  several  years  he  manufactured  pottery 
known  as  Shiragi-yaki,  ‘‘  Shiragi  ’’  being  the  Japan- 
ese method  of  pronouncing  the  name  of  the  region 
in  Korea  whence  this  keramist  had  emigrated.  No 
authenticated  specimens  of  the  ware  survive,  nor  can 
implicit  reliance  be  placed  in  the  story,  which,  for 
the  rest,  has  little  importance,  since  Korea  was  not 
in  a position  to  impart  any  technical  knowledge  to 
the  Japanese  in  the  dolmen-building  era. 

The  next  event  connected  with  the  development 
of  the  industry  is  an  alleged  invasion  of  Korea 
in  the  third  century  of  the  Christian  era  by  a 
Japanese  Eknpress,  Jingo.  Modern  research  by  Occi- 
dental students  has  thrown  much  doubt  upon  this 
incident,  but  Japanese  antiquarians  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  believe  it.  They  further  assert  that  one 
result  of  the  expedition  was  the  regular  yearly 
despatch  of  eighty  ship-loads  of  Korean  produce  to 
Japan,  by  way  of  tribute,  and  that  among  articles 
thus  sent  there  were  specimens  of  pottery  which 
Japanese  keramists  took  as  models.  Of  all  this  there 
is  no  practical  proof.  Its  historical  value  is  prob- 
ably limited  to  the  indication  it  gives  of  intercourse 
between  Korea  and  Japan  at  an  early  epoch,  but  its 
importance  as  bearing  on  keramic  development  is 
insignificant. 

After  the  days  of  the  warlike  Empress,  neither 
tradition  nor  history  supplies  any  information  bearing 
upon  keramics  until  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century, 
when  the  Emperor  Yuriaku  ascended  the  throne 
(457  A.  d).  In  the  seventh  year  of  his  reign  he  ad- 

7 


JAPAN 

dressed  an  edict  to  the  potters  {Haji)  of  the  Imperial 
kilns,  directing  that  thenceforth  the  utensils  for  his 
table  should  be  not  doki^  but  seiki.  The  term  doki 
signifies  a vessel  of  earth,  — a piece  of  pottery,  in  short. 
But  the  meaning  of  seiki  is  more  obscure.  Literally, 
the  translation  is  ‘‘  pure  utensil,”  — a rendering  which 
helps  very  little.  Certain  Japanese  antiquarians  are 
disposed  to  distinguish  seiki  as  ‘‘  porcelain,”  and  ‘‘  doki'' 
as  pottery,  but  such  a hypothesis  is  untenable.  What 
seems  most  probable  is  that  some  improved  shapes, 
or  methods  of  technique,  were  introduced  at  that 
time,  and  that  to  these  the  Emperor  applied  the 
term  seiki^  merely  to  signify  his  approval.  It  has 
been  surmised  that  glazed  pottery  then  first  came 
into  vogue,  for,  though  the  balance  of  testimony  goes 
to  prove  that  this  important  branch  of  their  art  was 
not  practised  by  Japanese  potters  with  Japanese  ma- 
terials until  a much  later  period,  there  is  just  a pos- 
sibility that  the  clay  necessary  for  glazing  purposes 
was  procured  from  China  or  Korea  long  before  its 
discovery  in  Japan.  According  to  certain  authorities, 
Yuriaku  summoned  from  Korea  a potter  called  Kohi. 
and  caused  him  to  settle  in  the  province  of  Kawachi, 
The  same  accounts  say  that  kilns  were  built  during 
his  reign,  at  Kusasu  in  Settsu,  Fushimi  in  Yamashiro, 
Fujikata  in  Ise,  as  well  as  at  other  places  in  the 
provinces  of  Tamba,  Tajima,  and  Inaba.  But  the 
whole  question  is  wrapped  in  obscurity. 

The  next  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  manufacture 
brings  the  student  to  the  middle  of  the  eighth  century, 
when  there  came  from  Korea  a man  regarded  by 
posterity  as  one  of  the  great  benefactors  of  the  Jap- 
anese people.  This  was  Gyogi,  a Buddhist  priest, 
reputed  to  be  a scion  of  the  family  then  ruling 

8 


EARLY  WARES 

in  Hyakusai  (a  division  of  Korea).  Among  the 
three  states  of  Korea  this  Hyakusai  is  remarkable 
as  deriving  its  name  from  the  fact  that  a hundred 
( hyaku ) noble  Chinese  families  made  it  their  place  of 
refuge  at  a very  early  date.  Thus  Gyogi  was  of  Chi- 
nese origin.  Famed  equally  for  philanthropy  and 
mechanical  ability,  he  devoted  his  time  to  travelling 
from  place  to  place  in  Japan,  instructing  the  people 
wherever  he  went  in  the  arts  of  carpentry,  carving, 
engineering,  writing,  and  pottery.  Many  relics  of 
his  skill  are  preserved  in  the  temples  throughout  the 
country,  and  he  is  credited  with  inventing  and  intro- 
ducing into  Japan  the  potter’s  wheel.  But  the  con- 
tents of  the  dolmens  show  that  the  use  of  the  wheel 
was  familiar  to  Japanese  keramists  centuries  before 
Gyogi’s  era.  Indeed,  there  is  difficulty  in  determin- 
ing what  new  process  he  really  did  teach.  Specimens 
of  ware  confidently  attributed  to  him  are  unsightly 
vessels  of  coarse,  dark  clay,  with  no  trace  of  glaze 
other  than  that  produced  by  the  fusing  of  silicates 
accidentally  present  in  the  clay,  and  without  any 
technical  merit  beyond  a certain  regularity  of  form, 
due  to  the  employment  of  the  wheel  in  their  con- 
struction. Probably  Gyogi’s  fame  as  a keramist  — 
for  famous  he  certainly  is  among  the  Japanese — is  to 
be  ascribed  to  the  kindly  efforts  he  made  to  dissemi- 
nate knowledge  of  an  industry  that  added  much  to 
the  comfort  of  every-day  life.  At  all  events,  his 
figure  assumed  such  historical  prominence  that  every- 
thing antecedent  passed  out  of  view,  and  to  this  day, 
whenever  from  any  long-unexplored  place  there  is 
exhumed  a specimen  of  unsightly  and  time-stained 
pottery,  virtuosi  unhesitatingly  christen  it  “ Gyogi- 
yakir 


9 


JAPAN 

Gyogi’s  celebrity  is  the  more  inexplicable  inas- 
much as  some  years  before  his  advent  the  keramic  art 
had  been  taken  under  the  patronage  of  the  Emperor 
Mommu.  This  monarch  appointed  officials  to  super- 
vise the  kilns  (a.  d.  701),  and  altogether  gave  the 
industry  a status  which  it  had  not  enjoyed  before. 
It  is  also  recorded  that  he  invited  workmen  from 
China  and  Korea,  and  there  is  an  unsupported  belief 
among  Japanese  antiquarians  that,  under  the  instruc- 
tion of  these  experts,  glazed  pottery  was  produced  at 
the  factories  of  Yamato.  Ancient  annals  speak  of 
celadon  vessels,  which  were  used  in  the  service  of  the 
gods,  but  that  these  utensils  were  really  of  Japanese 
manufacture  seems  most  unlikely.  It  is  true  that 
they  are  ascribed  by  the  annals  to  workshops  in  Owari, 
a statement  which  the  late  Mr.  Ninagawa  accepts  as 
evidence  that  the  keramic  industry  had  extended  to 
that  province.  But,  as  shown  above,  neither  in  the 
most  ancient  collections,  not  yet  among  the  products 
of  excavations,  has  there  ever  been  found  any  speci- 
men of  artificially  glazed  Japanese  pottery  which 
could  reasonably  be  referred  to  so  remote  a date  as 
the  eighth  century.  If  pieces  were  produced  with 
imported  materials,  they  must  have  been  too  few  to 
leave  any  permanent  trace,  and  it  is  certain  that  their 
manufacture  was  limited  to  a brief  period. 

The  dolmens  furnish  conclusive  evidence  as  to  the 
nature  of  the  pottery  produced  by  one  section,  at  any 
rate,  of  the  Japanese  immigrants.  Equally*' trust- 
worthy testimony  with  reference  to  the  state  of  the 
keramic  industry  in  the  eighth  century  is  obtained 
from  a collection  of  relics  preserved  at  Nara,  in 
Yamato  province.  Between  709  and  784  Nara  was 
the  Imperial  capital,  and  during  that  era  the  chief 


EARLY  WARES 

temple  there,  Todai-ji,  became  the  repository  of 
various  articles  used  at  the  Court  under  the  sway  of 
three  Emperors  and  as  many  Empresses.  Among 
these  articles  are  several  keramic  specimens.  They 
are  all  of  foreign  manufacture,  and  they  do  not 
include  any  translucid  porcelain,  the  best  of  them 
being  grass-green  faience.  There  is  no  difficulty  in 
identifying  these  as  products  of  Chinese  kilns. 
Japanese  connoisseurs  attribute  some  of  them  to 
Cochin  China,  but  that  appears  to  be  a misconcep- 
tion, due  to  the  fact  that  the  ware  came  to  Japan  via 
Cochin  China.  The  Nara  collection  thus  indicates 
not  only  that  Japan  herself  had  not  yet  learned,  in 
the  eighth  century,  how  to  manufacture  glazed  pot- ' 
tery,  still  less  translucid  porcelain,  but  also  that  in  no 
part  of  the  Far  East  had  the  potter’s  art  reached  a 
I high  stage  of  development;  for,  since  history  shows 
that  between  China  and  Japan  there  existed  in  these 
early  centuries  intercourses  fitful  indeed,  but  never 
wholly  interrupted,  and  since  the  refinements  of  life 
in  Japan  would  certainly  have  led  her  to  appreciate 
and  acquire  the  best  products  of  her  neighbours’ 
skill,  the  absence  of  fine  specimens  of  Chinese  ware 
from  her  Imperial  collection  suggests  that  they  had 
as  yet  no  existence  in  the  Middle  Kingdom. 

In  his  valuable  work,  Kwanko  Zatetsu,  the  late  Mr. 
Ninagawa  hazards  the  opinion  that  materials  for 
glazing  pottery  ceased  to  be  imported  from  China 
after  the  year  959.  This  conjecture  is  not  only 
unsupported  by  evidence  but  also  based  upon  the 
false  assumption  that  relations  with  China  were 
broken  off  at  that  period,  whereas,  in  point  of  fact, 
official  intercourse,  previously  interrupted,  was  then 
renewed.  In  any  case  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that 


JAPAN 

such  material  would  have  been  carried  across  the  sea 
during  these  early  centuries  except,  perhaps,  to  gratify 
the  caprice  of  some  amateur.  To  bring  Chinese 
glazing  material  from  China  for  the  purpose  of  apply- 
ing it  to  inferior  Japanese  pottery  in  Japan  must 
always  have  appeared  a less  rational  proceeding  than 
to  bring  Chinese  glazed  pottery  to  Japan. 

Summarising  the  above  records,  the  conclusion  is 
that  up  to  the  twelfth  century  utensils  of  glazed 
earthenware  were  scarcely  if  at  all  produced  in 
Japan,  and  that  the  use  of  those  which  found  their 
way  thither  from  China  was  confined  to  the  ruling 
classes.  It  has  even  been  suggested  by  some  author- 
ities that  outside  the  Imperial  Court  oak-leaf  cups, 
such  as  that  which  the  wife  of  the  ill-fated  Odate 
presented  to  the  jealous  Empress  Iwa,  sufficed  for 
ordinary  purposes,  and  that  food  was  served  and  eaten 
in  vessels  of  plain  or  lacquered  wood.  Such  a 
theory  is  not  tenable.  Annals  of  the  tenth  century 
detail  no  less  than  fifteen  provinces  ^ where  pottery 
was  manufactured,  though  there  is  no  reason  to  think 
that  the  ware  itself  exhibited  any  features  of  tech- 
nical excellence.  The  art  lacked  the  essential  pat- 
ronage of  public  appreciation.  Except,  perhaps,  a 
few  simple  vessels  used  at  religious  celebrations, 
nothing  was  required  of  the  potters  beyond  the  pro- 
duction of  jars  for  storing  and  steeping  rice-seed  or 
utensils  for  common  domestic  uses. 

Early  in  the  thirteenth  century  a new  influence 
began  to  be  felt.  This  was  the  introduction  of 
tea  from  China,  together  with  a minute  appreciation 
of  its  qualities  and  uses.  The  tea-ceremonial,  which 
subsequently  occupied  an  important  place  in  Japanese 

^ See  Appendix,  note  2. 


12 


EARLY  WARES 

aesthetics,  was  not  elaborated  until  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, but  simultaneously  with  the  import  of  the  leaf 
some  of  the  vessels  employed  in  infusing  and  serving 
it  were  brought  to  Japan,  and  from  these  it  became 
apparent  that  the  Chinese  potter  under  the  Sung 
dynasty  had  completely  distanced  both  Korea  and 
Japan  in  technical  processes,  while,  at  the  same  time, 
a new  need  was  felt  by  the  Japanese  for  utensils  of 
improved  quality.  Accordingly,  Kato  Shirozsmon, 
a potter  who  had  already  acquired  some  reputation, 
determined  to  make  a voyage  to  China,  and  in  the 
year  1223  accomplished  his  object  in  company  with 
a priest,  Doen. 

After  an  absence  of  six  years  Shirozasmon  returned 
and  settled  at  Seto,  in  the  province  of  Owari,  where 
he  commenced  the  manufacture  of  a ware  which  to 
this  day  is  regarded  with  the  utmost  esteem  by  his 
countrymen.  It  was  manipulated  with  considerable 
care  and  no  longer  stoved  in  an  inverted  position,  as 
had  previously  been  the  case,  so  that  the  upper  parts 
of  the  vessels  were  free  from  the  irregularities  and 
imperfections  of  their  predecessors.  The  paste  was 
reddish  brown  clay,  with  a considerable  mixture  of 
siliceous  particles,  and  the  glaze,  applied  with  great 
skill,  was  most  commonly  dark-brown  or  chocolate- 
colour,  having  occasionally  streaks  or  patches  of  a 
different  tint.  The  chief  productions  were  tea-jars 
of  various  sizes  and  shapes,  which,  having  been  from 
the  very  first  treasured  up  with  greatest  care  by  their 
fortunate  possessors,  still  exist  in  considerable  numbers, 
and  are  still  highly  valued  by  amateurs  of  the  Cha-no- 
Tu  (Tea  Ceremonial).  So  great  a reputation  did  this 
Toshiro-yaki^  as  it  was  commonly  called,  enjoy,  and 
such  prestige  did  its  appearance  give  to  the  potters  of 

13 


JAPAN 

Owari,  that  everything  which  preceded  it  was  for- 
gotten, and  the  name  Seto-mono  (i,  e,  ware  of  Seto) 
thenceforth  became  the  generic  term  for  all  keramic 
manufactures  in  Japan,  just  as  “ China  ” is  in  Europe. 

In  his  later  years  Shirozaemon  took  the  name  of 
Shunkei.  As  showing  the  appreciation  in  which  he 
is  held  by  his  countrymen,  the  inscription  on  a por- 
celain tablet  erected  to  his  memory  is  interesting.  It 
runs  as  follows  : — 

The  Father  of  pottery  was  a scion  of  the  noble  family  of 
Fujiwara.  His  name  was  Kagemasa,  but  he  was  popularly 
known  as  Kato  Shirozaemon.  His  artist  name  was  Shunkei, 
which  may  be  written  in  two  different  fashions.  The  epithet 
“ Father  of  Pottery  ’’  was  given  to  him  after  his  death.  He 
was  grandson  of  Tachibana  Tomosada,  who  lived  at  the 
village  of  MIchikage,  in  the  district  of  Morowa,  province  of 
Yamato,  and  his  father’s  name  was  Motoyasu.  His  mother 
was  the  daughter  of  Michikage,  an  inhabitant  of  Fukakusa, 
in  Yamashiro,  and  a member  of  the  Taira  family.  From 
his  childhood  Shirozaemon  developed  a taste  for  working  in 
clay  and  fashioning  vessels  of  pottery.  He  never  ceased  to 
regret  that  he  lacked  the  skill  of  the  Chinese  potters,  and 
for  years  harboured  the  resolve  of  going  to  study  beyond  the 
sea.  When  grown  up,  he  took  service  under  the  Dainagon 
Koga  Michichika,  and  was  nominated  to  the  post  of  Shodaibuy 
and  raised  to  the  Fifth  Official  Rank.  At  last,  in  the  year 
1223,  he  was  enabled  to  visit  China  in  the  company  of  the 
priest,  Doen.  There  he  studied  assiduously  for  six  years. 
On  his  return  he  landed  at  Kawajiri,  in  the  province  of 
Higo.  On  the  voyage  home  he  had  manufactured  three 
tea-jars  with  clay  brought  from  China.  These  he  presented 
to  his  friend  Doen,  and  to  the  Regent  Hojo  Tokiyori.  The 
jars  were  afterwards  preserved  as  heirlooms.  Shirozaemon 
was  twenty-six  years  of  age  at  the  period  of  his  return,  and 
he  lost  no  time  in  visiting  his  father,  who  had  been  exiled  to 
Matsuto  In  Bizen.  There  he  sojourned  for  a season  and 
practised  his  art.  Subsequently  he  went  to  see  his  mother 

14 


EARLY  WARES 

at  Fukakusa,  but  as  she  died  shortly  afterwards,  he  travelled 
to  Kyoto  and  the  neighbouring  districts,  making  everywhere 
experiments  in  pottery.  This  he  did  also  in  the  districts 
Chita  and  Aichi  of  his  native  province,  Owari,  but  nowhere 
did  the  results  satisfy  him.  At  last  he  came  to  the  village 
of  Seto,  in  the  district  Yamada  of  the  same  province.  Here, 
to  his  surprise,  he  discovered  the  clay  called  Sobokai^  and 
seeing  that  the  aspect  of  the  place  was  southerly,  that  the 
hills  were  high,  the  water  pure,  and  the  clay  similar  to  that 
which  he  had  brought  from  China,  he  opened  a factory  there, 
and  to  the  end  of  his  life  never  moved  elsewhere.  There  is 
a tradition  that  the  name  Sobokai^  which  signifies  grandam’s 
bosom,”  was  given  to  the  earth  because  Shirozaemon's  grand- 
mother, having  found  it  at  Amaike  in  Seto,  carried  some  of 
it  home  in  the  bosom  of  her  garment.  Another  tradition  is 
that  the  whereabouts  of  the  Sobokai  was  revealed  to  the 
Father  of  Pottery  in  a dream  by  the  guardian  divinity  of 
Seto  to  whom  he  had  prayed.  This  village  of  Seto  was  for- 
merly included  in  the  Yamada  district,  but  now  belongs  to  the 
district  of  Kasugai.  In  ancient  times,  also,  it  was  doubtless 
a good  place  for  the  potter’s  industry,  since  various  annals 
record  that  at  a remote  period  the  utensils  for  the  Imperial 
Court  were  always  procured  from  there.  The  knowledge 
of  what  had  been  done  in  this  line  before  his  time  contributed 
to  the  success  of  the  Father  of  Pottery.  The  site  where 
his  dwelling  stood  is  called  Nakajima.  It  lies  among  the 
rice  plains  eastward  of  the  temple  of  Fukagawa  in  the  village 
of  Seto,  and  southward  of  Encho-in.  It'  is  marked  by  a 
cryptomeria  tree.  In  his  later  years  the  Father  of  Pottery 
handed  over  the  factory  to  his  son,  and  built,  on  the  above 
site,  a house  for  himself  and  his  wife  to  end  their  days. 
The  date  of  his  death  is  not  recorded.  His  tomb  is  known 
as  the  ‘‘Tumulusa  of  the  Fifth  Rank.”  To  the  left  of  the 
village  of  Seto  there  is  a kiln  formerly  used  by  him.  It  is 
called  Mashiro,  but  nothing  known  to  have  been  made  by 
his  hand  remains  in  Seto,  except  a lion,  one  of  a pair  used  as 
weights  for  the  curtains  at  the  village  temple.  Inhabitants 
of  the  village  whose  name  begins  with  the  syllable  To  are 
his  descendants.  A temple  has  been  erected  to  his  memory, 
and  he  is  there  worshipped  under  the  titles  of  the  “ Prince  of 

15 


JAPAN 

Potters  ” or  the  “ God  of  Kilns.”  Twice  a year,  on  the 
nineteenth  day  of  the  third  and  eighth  months,  festivals  are 
held  in  his  honour,  with  horse-racing  and  dancing  of  the 
Kagura. 

A man  to  whose  memory  such  honour  is  paid 
ought  to  have  accomplished  something  worthy  to  be 
famous.  And  indeed,  in  comparison  with  his  imme- 
diate predecessors,  Toshiro  was  a giant  of  skill.  The 
credit  will  always  belong  to  him  of  having  opened  a 
new  page  of  Japanese  keramic  art.  As  the  first  to 
transplant  Chinese  keramic  processes  into  Japanese 
workshops  he  deserves  to  be  remembered,  and  con- 
sidering that  he  lived  more  than  eight  hundred  and 
fifty  years  ago,  his  achievements  were  remarkable. 
They  will  be  further  spoken  of  when  the  wares  of 
Owari  are  discussed  in  detail. 

Toshiro’s  sons  and  their  sons  succeeded  one  another 
at  the  factory  in  Seto.  His  grandson,  whose  kiln 
was  called  Kinkazan,  developed  much  skill  in  the 
manipulation  of  pastes  and  the  application  of  glazes. 
Some  of  his  vases,  rich,  lustrous,  and  brilliant  in  colour, 
will  almost  bear  comparison  with  the  masterpieces 
of  Chinese  art.  But,  like  his  predecessors  and  im- 
mediate successor,  he  confined  himself  to  the  produc- 
tion of  utensils  for  the  tea-clubs ; that  is  to  say, 
tiny  jars,  cups,  and  water-vessels.  If  he  attempted 
anything  more  ambitious,  it  has  unfortunately  not 
survived  the  lapse  of  ages.  It  must  be  admitted,  also, 
that  the  general  influence  of  his  example  was  not 
commensurate  with  the  improvements  which  he  him- 
self effected.  Patrons  were  wanting,  the  land  was 
wasted  by  civil  war,  and  scarcely  in  the  seclusion  of 
cloisters  did  men  find  respite  from  the  fever  of  battle. 
The  people  had  no  heart  to  be  aesthetic.  Lacquered 

i6 


EARLY  WARES 

vessels  still  continued  to  constitute  a chief  part  of 
the  household  equipage  among  the  better  classes,  while 
farmers  and  artisans  were  constrained  to  be  con- 
tent with  the  comparatively  clumsy  achievements 
of  Settsu,  Karatsu,  and  a few  even  more  insignificant 
potteries. 

This  state  of  things  continued  with  little  improve- 
ment until  the  era  of  Yoshimasa  (1436-1480),  eighth 
Regent  of  the  Ashikaga  dynasty,  whose  luxurious  pro- 
clivities made  him  a keen  patron  of  art  industry. 
The  lacquers  produced  in  his  time  are  among  the 
very  finest  specimens  ever  executed  in  Japan,  and- such 
objects  as  received  the  approval  of  himself  and  his 
contemporary  connoisseurs  occupy  the  first  places  in 
the  collections  of  his  countrymen  to-day.  Under  his 
patronage  the  ‘‘Tea  Ceremonial''  became  a philo- 
sophic as  well  as  an  aesthetic  cult,  and  its  disciples, 
among  whom  were  soon  numbered  many  of  the  lead- 
ing men  of  the  time,  conceived  a new  standard  of 
excellence  in  the  dominion  of  applied  art.  The  in- 
fluence of  this  cult  was  not  completely  wholesome. 
It  educated  an  almost  grotesque  affectation  of  simpli- 
city and  an  unreasoning  reverence  for  the  antique. 
But  it  certainly  invested  art  with  wide-spread  interest 
which  prepared  the  way  for  future  progress.  Thus, 
just  as  the  introduction  of  tea  in  the  thirteenth  century 
had  led  Japanese  keramists  to  turn  to  China  for  tech- 
nical instructions  and  for  models,  so  the  establishment 
of  the  tea-clubs  in  the  closing  years  of  the  fifteenth 
century  induced  her  again  to  seek  aid  from  the  same 
source.  The  result  of  her  second  recourse  to  the 
great  centre  of  keramics  was  that  she  acquired  the 
art  of  manufacturing  porcelain  proper. 

A word  may  be  said  here  about  the  claim  of 

VOL.  VIII. 2 ly 


JAPAN 

originality  asserted  on  behalf  of  the  early  Japanese 
potters  by  certain  European  critics.  There  appears 
to  be  some  reluctance  to  admit  that  the  unsympathetic, 
gain-getting  Chinaman  could  ever  have  supplied  any 
of  the  inspirations  which  America  and  Europe  have 
of  late  learned  to  admire  so  much.  Led  away  by 
this  loving  enthusiasm,  Jacquemart  attributes  to  Japan 
a translucid  porcelain  older  than  that  of  China ; that 
is  to  say,  in  his  opinion,  older  than  the  Christian  era. 
Later  writers,  Messrs.  Audsley  and  Bowes,  place  the 
date  of  the  earliest  Japanese  porcelain  manufacture  in 
the  sixth  century,  and  do  not  hesitate  to  declare  that 
the  communication  between  the  two  countries 
[China  and  Japan]  evidently  failed  to  affect  their 
respective  arts,”  and  that  the  Japanese  found  little 
in  the  Chinese  from  which  they  could  gain  practical 
or  artistic  instruction,  since  their  own  arts  and  manu- 
factures were  equal,  and  in  most  cases  superior,  to 
those  of  the  latter.”  Even  M.  Louis  Gonse,  who 
shows  generally  a sympathetic  appreciation  of  his 
subject,  excludes  the  Middle  Kingdom  from  any 
share  in  the  moulding  of  Japanese  genius.  He 
believes  that  a wave  of  Aryan  culture,  flowing  east- 
ward, was  divided  by  the  unimpressionable  rock  of 
Chinese  conservatism  into  northern  and  southern 
streams,  of  which  one  found  its  way  to  Japan  with 
waters  as  pure  as  when  they  left  their  source.  But 
facts  cannot  be  gainsaid.  Whenever  Japan  needed 
help  in  her  progress  along  the  path  of  art,  she  turned 
to  China.  If  she  often  translated  the  aid  thus  obtained 
into  language  of  her  own,  full  of  beauty  and  rhythm, 
the  alphabet  nevertheless  remained  always  Chinese. 
It  is  of  interest  therefore  to  inquire  what  China  had 
to  teach  Japan  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 

i8 


EARLY  WARES 

tury,  when  the  potters  of  the  island  empire  once  more 
turned  their  eyes  towards  the  Middle  Kingdom. 

From  the  eleventh  to  the  thirteenth  century  the 
choicest  wares  produced  in  China  owed  their  beauties 
to  technical  processes  which  a specialist  only  could 
hope  to  employ.  Celadon  was  the  prince  of  these 
wares,  and  of  all  keramic  productions  it  may  be  said 
that  celadon  pre-eminently  derives  its  charm  from  del- 
icacy of  colour  and  lustrous  softness  of  surface,  which 
at  once  remove  it  to  an  infinite  distance  beyond  the 
range  of  the  ordinary  potter’s  skill.  The  tea-clubs 
were  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  excellence  of  this 
peculiarly  aesthetic  ware.  A choice  vase  of  seiji  green 

ware”)  constituted  their  beau-ideal  as  an  alcove  orna- 
ment, and  in  the  rich  lacquer  boxes  that  contained 
elaborate  apparatus  for  cutting  and  burning  incense, 
no  censer  better  became  its  wrapper  of  antique  brocade 
than  a little  cylindrical  vessel  of  the  indescribable 
bluish-green  stone-ware  known  in  China  as  Lung- 
chuan-yao.  Shuko,  art  instructor  of  the  ex-Regent 
Yoshimasa,  indicated  a variety  of  celadon  the  peculiar 
tint  of  which  reached,  according  to  him,  the  very 
acme  of  restfulness  and  sobriety.  The  Talk'd  pos- 
sessed a celadon  censer  which  was  credited  with 
miraculous  properties,  and  even  the  practical  leyasu 
thought  that  a choice  vase  of  this  ware  represented 
fair  security  for  a loan  of  several  thousand  dollars. 
Early  Japanese  potters  knew  of  no  materials  that 
could  be  used  to  manufacture  such  masterpieces.  The 
very  attempt  to  reproduce  them  would  probably  have 
been  deemed  preposterous  in  the  then  condition  of 
Japanese  keramic  ability.  So  too  of  the  Ting-yao,  the 
Chun-yaOy  the  Chlen-yao.  The  curious  glazes,  reddish 
purple,  creamy-white,  clalr  de  lune^  and  silver-streaked 

19 


JAPAN 

black,  of  these  varieties  were  absolutely  inimitable. 
They  remain  to  this  day  inimitable.  To  the  Japanese 
keramist  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  the 
aspect  of  such  masterpieces  must  have  been  deterrent. 
Kato  Shirozaemon  does  not  appear  to  have  dreamed 
of  imitating,  still  less  of  emulating,  them.  His 
glazes  were  admirable  in  their  way,  but  they  did  not 
approach  the  beauty  of  the  Chinese  wares.  More- 
over, when  Kato  visited  China  (1223),  power  of 
the  great  Sung  dynasty  had  already  waned  and  was 
soon  to  be  altogether  eclipsed ; keramic  industry, 
which  owed  so  much  to  Court  patronage,  was  compar- 
atively paralysed,  and  the  Chinese  who  acted  as  Kato’s 
instructors  were  probably  themselves  incompetent  to 
grapple  with  difficulties  which  to  him  seemed  insuper- 
able. Thenceforward,  throughout  the  Tuan  dynasty 
of  Mongols  (1260-1367),  it  must  have  been  manifest 
to  the  Japanese  that  the  potters  of  the  Middle  King- 
dom had  lost  much  of  their  old  cunning.  The  clatr 
de  lune^  with  blood-red  splashes  or  clouds,  of  the  Yuan- 
su-yao  was  the  only  keramic  chef-d' auvre  that  crossed  the 
sea,  and,  beautiful  as  it  was,  it  cannot  but  have  appeared 
even  less  imitable  than  any  of  its  predecessors,  except, 
perhaps,  the  Chien-yao,  Then  followed  the  expulsion 
of  the  Mongols  from  their  usurped  place  in  China, 
and  the  accession  of  the  native  dynasty  of  the  Ming 
( I 368-1 644).  At  first  the  keramic  art  did  not  feel  the 
change  much;  but  from  the  Yung-lo  (1403—1425)  and 
Hsuan-te  era  (1426—1436)  throughout  the  periods  of 
Cheng-hua  (1465—1488),  Hung-chih  (1488-1505),  and 
Cheng-te  (1506-1521),  Japan  received  from  the  Middle 
Kingdom  specimens  which  showed  that  the  industry 
had  entered  a new  phase.  The  egg-shell  porcelain 
of  Yung-lo  ; the  exquisitely  clear,  pure  blues  of  Hsuan- 

20 


EARLY  WARES 

tdy  and  the  richer  but  less  choice  tints  of  Chia-chingy 
the  delicate  yellows  of  Hung-chih,  and  the  brilliant, 
jewel-like,  enamelled  porcelain  of  Chenghua  — all 
these,  accompanied  as  they  were  by  fine  examples  of 
already  famous  monochromes,  should  have  inspired 
Japanese  keramists  with  a strong  desire  to  learn  some- 
thing of  the  processes  that  gave  such  varied  and  ad- 
mirable results,  even  though  the  art  spirit  in  Japan 
had  not  been  roused  to  unprecedented  activity  by  the 
influence  of  Yoshimasa  and  the  tea-clubs. 

The  potter  who  now  (1510)  visited  China  in  search 
of  information,  as  Shirozayemon  had  done  nearly 
three  hundred  years  before,  was  Gorodayu  Go- 
shonzui.  He  was  a native  of  the  province  of  Ise, 
but  of  the  incidents  of  his  career  prior  to  this  journey 
no  authentic  record  is  preserved.  He  made  his  way, 
first  to  Foochow,  and  afterwards  to  Ching-te-chen, 
where  a course  of  five  years’  instruction  and  practice 
rendered  him  familiar  with  the  methods  of  the  Chi- 
nese potters.  The  history  of  Chinese  keramics  shows 
that,  had  the  workshops  of  Ching-te-chen  been  thrown 
open  to  him,  he  might  have  acquired  the  processes  of 
manufacturing  not  only  monochromes  and  decoration 
^.ous  couvertCy  but  also  enamelled  decoration  over  the 
glaze.  He  confined  himself,  however,  to  studying 
the  art  of  painting  in  blue  under  the  glaze.  It  is  not 
difficult  to  guess  how  this  occurred.  Each  mono- 
chromatic glaze  was  in  itself  a specialty,  and  its  suc- 
cessful production  depended  on  conditions  which  a 
casual  student  could  scarcely  hope  to  master.  As  for 
enamelled  decoration,  it  had  certainly  been  carried  to 
a remarkable  point  of  excellence  some  twenty  or 
thirty  years  before  Shonzui’s  arrival  at  Ching-te-chen. 
But  it  was  practised  to  a very  limited  extent,  and  the 

21 


JAPAN 

processes  are  said  to  have  been  kept  as  strictly  secret 
in  China  as  they  were  subsequently  at  Arita  in  Japan. 
So  rare  were  the  specimens  which  Japanese  collectors 
obtained  of  enamelled  porcelain  manufactured  prior 
to  the  Wan-li  era  (1573-1620),  a period  exception- 
ally prolific  of  ware  thus  decorated,  that  the  use  of 
vitrifiable  enamels  was  not  supposed  by  them  to  have 
been  largely  and  successfully  practised  in  the  Middle 
Kingdom  until  the  second  half  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. Shonzui,  then,  learned  nothing  of  this  branch 
of  his  art.  On  his  return  to  Japan,  he  made  no 
attempt  to  manufacture  anything  but  porcelain  dec- 
orated with  blue  under  the  glaze.  Neither  was  this, 
strictly  speaking,  a Japanese  ware.  Shonzui  had 
brought  clay,  glaze,  and  colouring  material  from 
China.  None  of  these  were  then  known  to  exist  in 
Japan,  nor  were  they  discovered  for  a considerable 
period  afterwards.  When,  therefore,  the  imported 
supply  failed,  the  manufacture  naturally  came  to  an 
end.  Shonzui  is  supposed  to  have  settled  at  Arita,  in 
Hizen.  Why  he  selected  that  place  there  is  nothing 
to  show.  The  factories  there  were  in  a most  unde- 
veloped condition,  nor  did  people  yet  entertain  the 
remotest  conception  that  Hizen  was  destined  to  be- 
come the  centre  of  Japan’s  porcelain  industry.  The 
most  reasonable  explanation  is  that  he  desired  to  re- 
main at  some  point  as  near  as  possible  to  China, 
whence  he  probably  purposed  to  procure  a new  sup- 
ply of  porcelain  materials,  and  whither  he  may  have 
intended  to  proceed  again.  But,  if  he  entertained 
either  of  these  designs,  they  were  never  realised.  He 
died  at  Arita,  and  although  the  clay  he  had  brought 
from  China  cannot  have  lasted  many  years,  he  does 
not  appear  to  have  had  any  opportunity  of  replenish- 

22 


EARLY  WARES 

ing  it.  While  it  did  last,  however,  he  turned  out 
very  beautiful  specimens.  They  were  not  distin- 
guished by  delicacy.  Solidity  was  chiefly  required  in 
pieces  suited  to  the  demand  of  the  time,  — tea-jars, 
water-vessels,  censers,  and  cups  for  the  ceremony  of 
the  mat-cha.  The  great  beauties  of  his  ware  were  in 
the  glaze  and  the  colour.  The  former  was  of  ex- 
trerne  softness  and  lustre,  while  the  latter  was  a blue 
of  the  finest  tone  and  brilliancy.  Many  specimens  of 
his  porcelain  now  extant  exhibit  a variety  of  the  well- 
known  Hawthorn  pattern  design,  and  it  may  be  said 
that  his  decorations  show  the  first  unmistakable  traces 
of  the  ‘‘Natural  Style’’  as  applied  to  Japanese  ke- 
ramics.  Hardly,  indeed,  could  he  have  escaped  the 
influence  of  the  impulse  his  country’s  pictorial  art 
had  just  received  at  the  hands  of  Sesshiu,  Shubun, 
and  Kano  Motonobu,  whose  professed  masters  were 
“ mountains,  rivers,  flowers,  and  trees.”  Shonzui 
probably  fell  in  with  the  mood  of  the  times,  which 
preferred  medallions  with  birds  and  flowers  to  cun- 
ning diapers,  and  plum-blossoms  or  pine  branches  to 
formal  scrolls.  He  did  not  always  avoid  Chinese 
designs.  Conventional  children,  entangled  among 
endless  arabesques,  figure  not  infrequently  on  his  pro- 
ductions. But  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  his 
decoration  is  floral,  and  though  there  are  no  sufficient 
grounds  for  accrediting  him  with  more  than  a modi- 
fication of  the  fashions  he  saw  at  the  potteries  on  the 
Po-yang  Lake,  it  must  at  least  be  admitted  that  his 
modification  was  an  improvement. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Shonzui  obtained  and 
brought  back  from  China  some  of  the  celebrated 
Mohammedan  blue  which  was  so  greatly  prized  and 
so  jealously  guarded  in  the  Middle  Kingdom.  It  is 

23 


'■  '■  JAPAN 

curious,  though  perhaps  significant,  that  at  the  very 
time — ^the  Cheng-hwa  era  (1506-1521) — when  the 
Japanese  keramist  visited  China,  the  workmen  of  the 
Imperial  Factory  at  Ching-te-chen  are  said  to  have 
secretly  sold  the  precious  mineral  to  outsiders,  the 
consequence  of  which  fraud  was  that  specially  severe 
rules  were  enacted  by  the  governor  of  the  district 
during  the  next  reign.  In  subsequent  times  the 
potters  of  Hizen  imported  all  their  choice  cobalt 
from  China ; but,  in  the  first  place,  it  was  not  the 
same  mineral  which  lent  such  exceptional  beauty  to 
the  porcelains  of  the  Ming  dynasty ; and  in  the 
second,  the  Japanese,  of  deliberate  choice,  used  it  so 
as  to  produce  a delicate,  rather  than  a deep,  full 
colour.  On  Shonzui’s  best  pieces  there  is  found  a 
blue  of  great  brilliancy  and  fulness,  rivalling  the  best 
efforts  of  his  Chinese  predecessors  or  contemporaries. 
This  alone  is  almost  sufficient  to  distinguish  his  pro- 
ductions from  Japanese  ware  of  a later  period.  And 
the  point  is  worth  noting,  for  counterfeits  were 
numerous.  In  comparatively  modern  times — (1825- 
1840)  — a kiln  was  specially  erected  at  a place  called 
Shishi-dani-yama,  in  the  province  of  Yamato,  to 
imitate  the  celebrated  potter’s  pieces  ; but  neither 
in  quality  of  glaze  nor  purity  of  colour  were  these 
reproductions  capable  of  deceiving  the  connoisseur. 
They  were  not  the  only  attempts  of  such  a nature. 
Like  the  tea-jars  of  Toshiro  of  Seto,  Shonzui’s  cups, 
water-holders,  plates,  and  so  forth  ultimately  derived 
an  extravagant  value  from  the  fact  that  they  repre- 
sented Japan’s  first  porcelain,  and  their  successful  im- 
itation became  a pecuniary  object  to  many  experts. 
Even  the  workmen  at  Ching-te-chen  are  said  to  have 
employed  all  the  resources  of  their  art,  during  the 

24 


EARLY  WARES 

eighteenth  century,  to  counterfeit  Shonzui’s  pieces 
for  purposes  of  export.  It  is  therefore,  only  too 
likely  that  many  an  unwary  collector  has  been  de- 
ceived. Let  it  be  said,  then,  at  once,  that  in  no  case 
did  a Japanese  potter  of  later  days  produce  either  the 
deep,  full  blue  of  the  beautiful  Mohammedan  mineral, 
or  the  rich,  lustrous  glaze  which  Shonzui’s  imported 
materials  — doubtless  the  very  best  of  their  kind — ' 
enabled  him  to  achieve  ; a glaze  which  has  been  aptly 
likened  by  his  countrymen  to  the  surface  of  flowing 
water.  These  are  criteria  which  the  amateur  should 
unhesitatingly  apply.  The  nature  of  the  pate  will 
not  guide  him  much,  for  fineness  of  clay,  a slight 
admixture  of  dark  particles,  and  that  peculiar  oily 
aspect  which  nearly  all  Chinese  porcelain  presents, 
are  characteristics  not  easily  appreciated  even  by  the 
educated  eye.  In  point  of  fact,  genuine  specimens 
of  Shonzui’s  porcelain  are  almost  as  rare  and  as 
well  known  as  the  paintings  of  some  great  master. 
Whether  many  have  left  Japan  is  very  doubtful,  the 
value  attached  to  them  in  the  country  of  their  manu- 
facture being  almost  incomprehensible  to  outsiders. 

Although  this  manufacture  of  porcelain  soon  came 
to  an  end,  owing  to  lack  of  materials,  the  decorative 
processes  which  Shonzui  had  learned  in  China  were 
not  forgotten.  The  potters  of  Arita,  profiting  by 
his  instruction,  began  to  produce  a faience,  or  stone- 
ware, of  tolerable  quality,  with  designs  in  blue  under 
the  glaze.  Very  few  specimens  of  this  ware  have 
survived.  It  was  scarcely  worthy  of  preservation, 
except  as  the  first  Japanese  pottery  with  coloured 
decoration.  That  the  blue  was  palpably  inferior  to 
the  deep  brilliant  colour  whicjj  Shonzui  succeeded  in 
producing,  will  readily  be  conceived.  It  was  proba- 

25 


JAPAN 

bly  obtained  from  a mineral  of  Japanese  origin  ; but 
this  is  uncertain.  The  Japanese  potters  of  Seto  cer- 
tainly used  cobalt  in  the  manufacture  of  their  black 
glazes,  and  it  is  asserted  that  Shonzui  himself  ulti- 
mately eked  out  the  pigment  which  he  had  brought 
from  China  by  mixing  it  with  the  mineral  of  his 
own  country.  On  the  other  hand,  the  commercial 
relations  between  Japan  and  China  were  of  such  a 
nature  during  the  sixteenth  century  that  it  should 
have  been  a simple  matter  for  the  keramists  of  the 
former  country  to  obtain  supplies  of  Chikiang  cobalt, 
however  unprocurable  the  precious  Mohammedan 
mineral  may  have  been.  The  point  is  not  of  special 
importance.  Indeed,  the  interest  attaching  to  the 
ware  manufactured  by  Shonzui’s  immediate  successors 
centres  solely  in  the  fact  that  it  represents  the  out- 
come of  a period  when  the  methods  of  porcelain 
manufacture  were  known  while  the  materials  were 
wanting.  With  regard  to  the  identification  of  the 
ware,  its  pate  varies  from  dense  faience  to  stone- ware, 
and  is  generally  tinged  distinctly  with  red ; its  glaze 
is  sometimes  grey,  or  slate  colour,  but  usually  an 
impure  white ; there  are  no  marks  of  date  or  factory, 
and  the  blue  decoration  is  somewhat  rudely  executed. 
Reference  to  the  general  question  of  Hizen  pottery 
will  be  made  in  a future  chapter. 

Although  the  porcelain  manufactured  by  Shonzui 
seems  to  have  attracted  considerable  attention  Jn  his 
time,  he  was  not  sufficiently  fortunate  to  obtain  the 
patronage  of  any  powerful  noble.  Indeed,  after  the 
death  of  the  Regent  Yoshimasa  (1491),  the  Tea  Cere- 
monials which  he  had  inaugurated,  if  they  did  not 
wholly  pass  out  of  fashion,  failed  to  increase  in  popu- 
larity. All  the  great  feudal  chieftains,  engaged  either 

26 


EARLY  WARES 

directly  or  indirectly  in  the  civil  wars  which  disturbed 
Japan  during  the  sixteenth  century,  had  neither  time 
nor  resources  to  cultivate  such  dilettanteism  as  the 
Cha-no-Tu,  The  philosophy  of  the  cult  aimed 
essentially  at  educating  a spirit  of  tranquillity  and 
refinement,  whereas  the  all-engrossing  business  of  the 
era  was  war.  Shonzui’s  journey  to  China  may  be 
regarded  as  a result  of  the  only  interval  of  peace 
which  the  Empire  had  enjoyed  during  nearly  two 
centuries.  For  when  the  Ming  dynasty  assumed  the 
reins  of  power  in  the  Middle  Kingdom,  the  Korean 
and  Chinese  coasts  were  ravaged  by  Japanese  corsairs, 
who  had  become  such  a terror  to  the  people  that 
their  names  were  used  by  mothers  as  a bogey  to  alarm 
bad  children.  These  pirates  came  from  the  island 
of  Kiushu,  where,  owing  to  the  complete  disorganisa- 
tion of  the  executive,  men  were  temporarily  freed 
from  all  legal  restraint.  At  the  end  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  however,  Yoshimitsu,  the  greatest  of  the 
Ashikaga  Shoguns^  succeeded  in  reconciling  the  two 
rival  Japanese  dynasties,  and  in  the  brief  period  of 
peace  that  ensued,  the  complaints  of  China  and  Korea 
were  favourably  considered  by  the  Japanese  Govern- 
ment. Vigorous  steps  were  taken  to  suppress  the 
pirates,  and  numerous  captives  whom  they  had  carried 
off  were  restored  to  their  native  countries.  China’s 
gratitude  for  this  neighbourly  act  was  very  marked. 
It  is  recorded  that  there  grew  up  between  the  two 
Empires  a friendly  intercourse,  and  that  the  polity, 
the  arts,  and  the  sciences  of  the  Ming  rulers  came  to 
be  regarded  with  sincere  admiration  by  the  Japanese. 
Yoshimitsu  died  in  1409,  and  not  long  afterwards  the 
Empire  was  again  torn  by  disputes  about  the  succes- 
sion to  the  Imperial  Throne  and  the  Shogunate,  as 

27 


JAPAN 

well  as  by  fierce  contests  of  ambition  among  the  great 
feudal  chieftains.  These  troubles  lasted  throughout 
the  century.  That  Shonzui’s  enterprise  should  have 
been  undertaken  in  such  times  must  be  attributed  to 
the  impulse  given  to  art  industry  by  the  patronage  of 
Yoshimasa,  and  to  the  relations  established  with  China 
under  the  circumstances  mentioned  above.  Certainly 
it  was  an  inopportune  enterprise.  Had  Shonzui  dis- 
covered the  porcelain  earth  that  existed  in  practically 
inexhaustible  quantities  within  easy  reach  of  his  fac- 
tory, his  efforts  might  have  been  attended  with  better 
results.  But  he  died  without  even  suspecting  its  pres- 
ence. A few  hundred  pieces  of  porcelain,  made  with 
materials  brought  over  sea,  and  scarcely  differing  from 
ware  produced  in  China,  were  the  only  outcome  of 
his  journey ; and  his  contemporaries  not  unnaturally 
failed  to  regard  these  as  any  earnest  of  a new  keramic 
era.  So  little  impression  did  his  enterprise  make  on 
the  men  of  his  time  that  even  the  locality  of  his  kiln 
is  not  accurately  known.  The  general  supposition  is 
that  he  settled  at  Arita,  in  the  province  of  Hizen.  But 
it  is  only  a supposition.  He  was  buried  in  Ise,  and 
there  is  nothing  definite  to  prove  that  he  did  not 
pursue  his  industry  in  that  neighbourhood  also.  At 
first  sight,  one  is  disposed  to  wonder  that  his  example 
did  not  find  imitators  immediately,  that  is  to  say, 
during  the  sixteenth  century,  Japan  being  on  such 
friendly  terms  with  China,  and  receiving,  from  time 
to  time,  specimens  of  the  admirable  wares  manufac- 
tured at  Ching-te-chen  by  the  Ming  potters,  then  at 
the  zenith  of  their  fame.  The  explanation  is  simple. 
The  sixteenth  century  was,  perhaps,  the  blackest 
period  of  Japanese  history.  The  suffering  and  devas- 
tation entailed  by  civil  wars,  raging  with  ever-renewed 

28 


W^'l  y^ 

• -^si  ■ .--V  '.■..•-*a?x^  • 'S 


»i«isa^.;>:  V.P---  ■;  ::,«^- 

: y ■ .. j.-'4£?j*;-  - 

i ' ■ ■s-* 

■sLt  ^V'V-'*  ■•/  V-  ' "'‘TV-.  V .'■  ^. 


EARLY  WARES 

fury,  were  augmented  by  natural  calamities,  — famines, 
earthquakes,  and  virulent  epidemics.  All  industries 
were  virtually  paralysed,  except  those  that  were  essen- 
tial to  the  conduct  of  campaigns.  Even  the  great 
Buddhistic  monasteries,  divested  of  their  sacred  char- 
acter, were  converted  into  fortresses  where  bonzes  and 
abbots  devoted  themselves  to  political  intriguing  and 
left  religion  to  take  care  of  itself.  It  was  impossible 
that  any  art,  other  than  that  of  the  swordsmith  or 
the  armourer,  could  flourish  amid  such  surroundings. 
But  from  the  moment  that  Hideyoshi,  the  TaikOy 
succeeded  in  crushing  or  conciliating  the  principal 
disturbers  of  the  peace,  the  nation’s  innate  love  of 
aesthetics  reasserted  itself.  From  his  campaigns  in 
Mino  and  Echizen,  Hideyoshi  returned  to  Kyoto  in 
1583.  He  set  himself  at  once  to  promote  the  occu- 
pations of  peace.  His  energy  was  alike  untiring  and 
well  directed.  At  one  time  he  rewarded  excellence 
with  money,  at  another  with  titles  of  honour,  and  he 
even  renewed  the  expedient  of  substituting  presents 
of  pottery  and  porcelain  for  revenues  or  land  as  a rec- 
ompense of  military  merit.  The  consequence  was  an 
unquestionable  revival  of  keramic  industry,  but  a 
revival  the  immediate  fruits  of  which  were  of  neces- 
sity small.  The  art  of  decoration  with  vitrifiable 
enamels  and  the  processes  of  manufacturing  true  porce- 
lain were  unknown.  A few  amateurs,  whose  methods 
there  will  be  occasion  to  allude  to  in  more  detail 
hereafter,  amused  themselves  by  producing  at  private 
kilns  in  Kyoto  insignificant  specimens,  of  more  or 
less  archaic  character,  for  the  use  of  the  tea-clubs. 
Perhaps  the  only  ware  worthy  of  mention  for  the 
sake  of  its  decorative  qualities  was  a pottery  manu- 
factured by  Soshiro  at  Fushimi,  a town  in  the  environs 

29 


JAPAN 

of  Kyoto,  where  the  Taiko  castle  stood.  The  clay 
employed  was  of  a rich  white  or  buff  colour,  very 
hard  and  of  exceedingly  fine  texture.  No  glaze  was 
used,  but  the  biscuit  was  polished  till  its  surface  shone 
like  ivory,  and  designs  in  lacquer,  black,  gold,  or 
sometimes  red,  were  then  applied.  A very  few  speci- 
mens — incense-burners  and  tea-jars  — are  all  that 
now  remain  of  the  Soshiro-yaki^  but  they  suffice  to 
show  that  the  ware  had  considerable  artistic  merit, 
and  that  the  lacquer  decoration  employed  in  those 
days  was  almost  imperishable.  The  Taiko  signified 
his  high  approval  of  Soshiro’s  productions  by  bestow- 
ing upon  him  the  title  of  Tenka-ichi^  “ first  in  the 
Empire,”  a distinction  accorded  only  to  artists  of  pre- 
eminent excellence.  Soshiro  may  have  deserved  this 
honour  in  comparison  with  his  fellow-potters,  but 
the  fact  that  his  very  mediocre  achievements  obtained 
such  distinction  is  in  itself  a sufficient  proof  of  the 
generally  inferior  condition  of  the  keramic  art  at  the 
time. 

Hideyoshi  himself  appears  to  have  been  disap- 
pointed with  the  results  achieved.  He  had  built,  on 
the  heights  overlooking  the  lovely  valley  of  the 
Ujigawa,  a ‘‘  Palace  of  Pleasure  ” [yuraku~yd^,  con- 
taining a collection  of  choice  objects  of  virtu ^ includ- 
ing heirlooms  of  Yoshimasa  and  Nobunaga.  The 
yuraku-Jo  did  not  long  remain  a record  of  its 
founder’s  esthetic  tastes.  The  Taiko  assigned  it  as  a 
residence  to  his  adopted  son,  Hideyoshi,  and  when 
the  latter  proved  a traitor,  the  palace  which  his 
presence  had  contaminated  was  razed  to  the  ground 
by  the  command  of  the  stern  old  Chancellor.  Mean- 
while there  had  gradually  grown  up  a far  more 
wonderful  monument  of  Japanese  greatness,  the  Castle 

30 


EARLY  WARES 

of  Osaka,  with  its  stupendous  battlements  built  of 
blocks  of  granite  which  still  excite  the  astonishment 
of  foreign  travellers.  Here  also  Hideyoshi  had  his 
tea-pavilion  and  his  art  treasures,  and  here  he  was 
visited  by  Chinese  merchants,  who  brought  him  the 
choicest  keramic  productions  of  their  country.  Many 
a noble  pair  of  celadon  vases  thus  came  into  the  Chan- 
cellor’s possession,  and  were  presented  by  him  to 
temples  throughout  the  country,  where  several  of 
them  are  still  carefully  preserved.  Yet  Hideyoshi 
was  not  satisfied.  His  object  was  not  to  collect  gems 
from  abroad  or  to  surround  himself  with  luxuries, 
but  to  develop  the  industries  of  his  own  country  ; and 
in  this  he  experienced  only  disappointment.  The  • 
standard  of  excellence  attained  by  Toshiro’s  successors 
at  Seto,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  had  not  been  main- 
tained. Shonzui’s  porcelain  manufacture  had  proved 
an  ephemeral  affair,  and  the  faience  decorated  in 
accordance  with  his  processes  was  deservedly  neglected. 
Japan,  in  short,  was  plainly  outstripped  by  her  neigh- 
bours, and  to  a practical  ruler  like  Hideyoshi  it 
seemed  that  the  best  way  to  remedy  this  was  to  import 
some  foreign  talent.  It  happened  just  then  that  he  f 
was  about  to  despatch  an  expedition  to  Korea.  Among 
the  instructions  issued  to  the  leaders  of  this  force  is 
said  to  have  been  one  directing  them  to  bring  back 
from  the  peninsula  as  many  skilled  potters  as  they 
could  find. 

To  this  order  may  be  traced  the  origin  of  many  of 
the  wares  which  have  earned  for  Japan  her  keramic 
celebrity  abroad.  All  that  she  needed  was  instruction 
in  elementary  processes.  Her  own  adaptive  and 
eclectic  genius  supplied  the  rest.  Very  soon,  at  the 
factories  opened  by  the  Korean  potters,  there  were 

31 


JAPAN 

produced  wares  which  in  all  their  artistic  features 
surpassed  anything  that  Korea  herself  had  ever  turned 
out.  Before,  however,  considering  these  wares  in 
detail,  it  will  be  convenient,  in  the  chronological 
sequence  of  this  history,  to  notice  a faience  more 
widely  known  than  it  deserves  to  be. 

About  the  year  1525  a Korean  potter  came  and 
settled  in  Kyoto.  He  was  popularly  known  as  Ameya, 
probably  because  he  at  first  followed  the  trade  of  a 
vendor  of  ame  (wheat-flour  jelly).  Before  he  had  long 
resided  in  Japan,  he  adopted  the  name  of  Masakichi, 
and  married  a Japanese  woman  called  Teirin.  Masa- 
kichi had  hoped  to  find  in  Japan  a profitable  field  for 
the  exercise  of  his  calling.  But  the  times,  and  also 

— a candid  critic  would  be  disposed  to  say  — his  own 
homely  methods,  were  against  him.  He  set  up  a 
kiln  in  Kyoto,  and  began  to  turn  out  a sort  of  archaic 
faience,  which  went  by  the  appellation  of  So-kei-yah\ 
Sokei  being  the  industrial  name  taken  by  Masakichi. 
The  ware  did  not  attract  much  attention  until  after 
Masakichi’s  death,  when  his  wife,  who  seems  to  have 
been  a woman  of  considerable  taste,  took  the  kiln 
into  her  own  hands.  Sen  no  Rikiu  was  then  begin- 
ning to  rank  as  a master  of  the  Cha-no-Yu,  He  dis- 
covered in  this  Ama-yaki  — as  Teirin’s  ware  was  called 

— something  that  pleased  his  aesthetic  instincts,  and 
to  signify  his  approval  he  bestowed  upon  the  son  of 
its  manufacturers  his  own  surname,  Tanaka,  which 
he  had  just  exchanged  for  that  of  Rikiu.  After  his 
mother’s  decease,  this  son,  Chojiro,  continued  to  pro- 
duce the  same  faience  in  a street  called  Kamichoja- 
machi,  Kyot5.  Even  Sen  no  Rikiu  s patronage  did 
not  at  first  bring  the  ware  into  favour.  But  in  the 
year  1578  Oda  Nobunaga,  at  Rikiu’s  inspiration, 

32 


EARLY  WARES 

gave  Chojiro  a large  order  for  cups  and  other  tea 
utensils,  with  the  immediate  result  of  making  the 
Ama-yaki  fashionable.  Ten  years  afterwards,  Hide- 
yoshi  summoned  Chojiro  to  his  palace  of  Juraku,  and 
was  so  pleased  with  his  productions  that  he  presented 
to  him  a gold  seal  bearing  the  ideograph  Raku^  which 
from  that  time  became  at  once  the  name  and  mark  of 
a ware  exceedingly  popular  with  the  Japanese  tea- 
clubs. 

The  Raku-yaki  of  those  times  was  hand-made  pot- 
tery, with  little  technical  excellence,  and  only  one 
artistic  recommendation,  namely,  quaintness  of  shape 
and  glaze.  But  the  day  used  in  its  manufacture  pos- 
sessed non-conductive  properties,  which  rendered  it 
peculiarly  suitable  for  tea-drinking  purposes.  At  first, 
the  only  glaze  produced  appears  to  have  been  black. 
But  from  Chojiro’s  time  there  is  found  a light  red  or 
salmon-coloured  glaze,  which,  being  obtained  by  the 
action  of  heat  on  a clay  originally  yellow,  presents  a 
somewhat  patchy  or  clouded  appearance.  The  Raku 
experts  showed  much  dexterity,  not  only  in  adapting 
the  shapes  of  their  pieces  to  the  tastes  of  the  chajiny 
but  sometimes  also  in  moulding  them  with  spirit  and 
fidelity.  This  is  especially  true  of  Doniu,  Chojiro’s 
grandson.  He  is  popularly  known  as  Nonko,  and 
has  been  placed  at  the  head  of  his  school  by  common 
consent.  From  his  time  a straw-yellow  craquele  glaze 
of  considerable  merit  made  its  appearance,  as  did  also 
a remarkable  black  glaze  pitted  with  red.  To  pro- 
duce either  of  these  must  have  demanded  no  little 
skill.  About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century 
green  and  cream-white  glazes  began  to  be  manufac- 
tured. The  innovation  is  attributed  to  Choniu,  eighth  1 
in  descent  from  the  Korean  Masakichi.  He  is  also  1 

33 


VOL.  VIII. 3 


JAPAN 

credited  with  the  use  of  gold  for  decorative  purposes 
and  with  the  manufacture  of  splashed  or  variegated 
glazes.  Among  specimens  of  Raku  ware  manufac- 
tured by  him  and  his  successors,  many  are  interesting 
for  the  sake  of  the  soft  colours  and  plastic  skill  they 
display.  But,  on  the  whole,  the  ware’s  attractiveness 
consists  mainly  in  its  freedom  from  all  technical  sug- 
gestions. It  is  impressionist  faience. 

The  Raku-yaki  is  essentially  a domestic  production. 
The  apparatus  required  for  its  manufacture  can  be 
obtained  easily  and  used  anywhere.  After  the  piece 
is  shaped  and  glazed,  it  is  placed  on  a support  inside 
a fire-clay  pot,  which  stands  in  a species  of  hearth. 
The  pot  is  completely  surrounded  with  charcoal,  kept 
at  a red  heat  by  constantly  passing  over  it  an  ample 
supply  of  air  from  a bellows.  After  a few  hours  the 
glazing  material  assumes  an  appearance  of  melting, 
whereupon  the  vessel  is  removed  from  the  pot  with  a 
pair  of  tongs,  and  either  placed  in  another  pot  to  cool 
or  dipped  in  water.  Marks  of  the  tongs  are  often 
seen  on  Raku  cups.  Pieces  thus  disfigured  not  infre- 
quently excite  the  special  admiration  of  ignorant 
people,  who  call  them  Hasami-yaki  (tongs- ware). 
The  pate  of  the  Kyot5  Raku  is  made  with  clay  found 
at  Okazaki  near  the  city,  or  at  Shigaraki  in  Omi. 
The  glazing  material  is  composed,  in  the  case  of  the 
well-known  black  glaze,  of  powdered  glass,  oxide  of 
lead,  and  two  species  of  stone,  one  of  which  is  obtained 
from  the  bed  of  the  river  Kamo.  In  the  case  of  the 
red,  or  salmon-coloured  glaze,  sulphate  of  iron  is  sub- 
stituted for  the  latter  stone.  A white  glaze  is  also 
very  common.  It  is  crackled,  more  or  less  coarsely, 
and  looks  rather  soft  than  lustrous.  All  the  Raku 
glazes  — black,  red,  green,  yellow,  and  white  — may 

■34 


EARLY  WARES 

easily  be  recognised  by  their  peculiarly  opaque,  waxy 
appearance. 

There  is  some  uncertainty  with  regard  to  the  date 
of  Chojiro’s  death,  but  the  best  authorities  place  it 
about  the  year  1610.  The  sale  of  his  pieces  was  not 
permitted  without  special  sanction,  everything  that 
he  made  being  reserved  for  use  in  the  Court,  or  by  a 
few  of  the  Court  nobles,  his  patrons.  In  the  time  of 
his  son,  Tokei,  this  prohibition  was  removed.  The 
family  had  hitherto  lived  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  Juraku  Palace  — or  of  the  grounds  in  which  it 
stood  — but  Tokei  moved  into  the  city  (Kyoto)  and 
supported  himself  entirely  by  the  sale  of  his  pottery. 
Contemporary  with  Tokei  was  an  expert  in  swords, 
by  name  Honami  Koetsu,  who  learned  the  Raku  pro- 
cess, and  manufactured  pieces  scarcely  to  be  distin- 
guished from  those  of  Tokei.  The  latter  used  as  a 
mark  the  single  ideograph  RakUy  whereas  the  former 
employed  five  ideographs,  hyo-dan-sen  raku-yaku  But 
this  distinction  does  not  always  exist.  Koetsu  had  a 
son,  Kuchu,  who  was  equally  skilled  as  a potter. 
Their  wares  are  called  Koetsu  Raku-yaki,  and  Kuchu 
Raku-yakiy  the  pottery  of  Ch5jiro  and  his  descendants 
being  designated  simply  Raku-yaki,  The  gold  seal 
presented  by  Hideyoshi  to  Chojiro  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  used  after  the  destruction  of  the  Juraku 
Palace.  It  was  replaced  by  a wooden  seal  for  purposes 
of  manufacture.  Each  representative  of  the  family 
had  a wooden  seal  of  his  own,  and  this,  at  his  death, 
was  broken  into  two  pieces  and  buried  with  him. 
All  the  seals  were  stamped  with  the  same  ideograph 
— raku  — but  all  presented  some  recognisable  differ- 
ence of  calligraphy.  The  names  of  the  successive 
potters  of  family  are  as  follows  : — 

35 


JAPAN 

1.  Ameya,  a Korean,  afterwards  called  Sokei,  or  Masakichi. 

He  came  to  Japan  about  1520,  and  died  about  1560. 
Teirin,  his  wife,  who  after  her  husband’s  death  became  a 
nun  {Amo),  Her  ware  was  called  Ama-yaki  (the  Nun’s 
pottery).  She  died  about  1570. 

2.  Chdjiro,  son  of  Sokei,  whose  industrial  name  was  Choyu. 

He  received  his  family  name  of  Tanaka  from  Sen  no 
Rikiu.  In  his  time  the  term  Raku-yaki  was  first  used. 
He  died  about  1610. 

3.  Tanaka  Kichizaemon,  whose  artist  name  was  Tokei : a 

son  of  Chojiro.  He  died  in  1635. 

Somi,  younger  brother  of  Tokei.  He  produced  Raku 
ware,  but  not  for  sale. 

4.  Tanaka  Kichibei,  whose  artist  name  was  Doniu,  and  who 

is  also  known  as  Nonko:  a son  of  Jokei.  He  is  the 
most  celebrated  of  all  the  Raku  potters.  He  died  in 
_i656. 

Doraku,  a younger  brother  of  Doniu,  manufactured  Raku 
ware.  He  used  a seal  bearing  the  characters  Sa-mon-ji. 

5.  Tanaka  Kichizaemon,  or  Sahei,  whose  artist  name  was 

Itsniu  : son  of  Doniu.  He  died  in  1696. 

Myoniu,  wife  of  Itsniu.  After  her  husband’s  death  she 
manufactured  Raku  pottery  which  is  known  as  Myoniu- 
yaki, 

Sahei,  second  son  of  Itsniu,  founded  a junior  branch  of 
the  family,  the  genealogy  of  which  is  as  follows  : — 

(1)  Sahei,  whose  artist  name  was  Itsgen  : second  son 
of  Itsniu.  Died  (about)  1730. 

(2)  Yahei,  whose  artist  name  was  Nintosai : "son  of 
Itsgen.  Died  (about)  1765. 

(3)  Yahei,  whose  artist  name  was  Kansai,  or  Gyoku- 
sai : son  of  Nintosai.  Died  (about)  1 800. 

(4)  Jimbei,  whose  artist  name  was  Rako : son  of 
Gyokusai.  Died  (about)  1835. 

6.  Tanaka  Kichizaemon,  whose  artist  name  was  Soniu  : son 

of  Itsniu.  He  died  in  1730. 

7.  Tanaka  Kichizaemon,  whose  artist  name  was  Saniu  : son 

of  Soniu.  He  died  in  1739. 

Myoshu,  wife  of  Saniu,  manufactured  pottery  after  her 

36 


EARLY  WARES 

husband's  death,  and  died  in  1747.  Her  ware  is  known 
as  Myoshu-yaki, 

8.  Tanaka  Sokichi,  or  Kichizaemon,  whose  artist  name  was 

Choniu  : son  of  Saniu.  He  died  in  1770. 

Myogi,  wife  of  Choniu,  manufactured  pottery  after  her 
husband's  death. 

9.  Tanaka  Kichizaemon,  whose  artist  name  was  Sahyo  or 

Tokuniu  : son  of  Choniu.  He  died  in  1774. 

10.  Tanaka  Kichizaemon,  whose  artist  name  was  Ryoniu  : 
son  of  Tokuniu.  He  died  in  1830. 

Myoei,  wife  of  Ryoniu,  manufactured  pottery  after  her 
husband's  death,  and  died  in  1834. 

11.  Tanaka  Kichizaemon,  whose  artist  name  was  Tanniu  : 
son  of  Ryoniu.  He  died  in  1854. 

12.  Tanaka  Kichizaemon,  whose  artist  name  was  Keiniu': 
son  of  Tanniu.  He  died  in  1875. 

13.  Tanaka  Kichizaemon,  the  present  representative  of  the 
family,  succeeded  to  the  business  in  1873. 

N.B.  The  term  ‘‘artist  name,"  used  above,  signifies  the 
name  taken  by  a potter  after  he  shaves  his  head  and 
retires  from  business  in  favour  of  his  son. 

It  is  perhaps  necessary  to  warn  the  student  of  Jap- 
anese keramics  against  an  inference  which  may  pos- 
sibly be  suggested  by  the  fulness  of  this  table  as 
compared  with  the  meagreness  of  available  informa- 
tion in  respect  of  the  names  and  eras  of  potters  at 
other  factories.  Two  circumstances  helped  to  secure 
for  the  Raku-yaki  a degree  of  favour  and  notice  to 
which  it  was  not  at  all  entitled  by  its  merits.  The 
first  was  the  fact  that  it  had  received  the  approval  of 
the  great  art  critic,  Sen  no  Rikiu ; the  second,  that  it 
was  stamped  with  a seal  bestowed  by  the  most  famous 
of  all  Japanese  chieftains,  the  Taikb,  It  is  true  that 
the  ware  does  not  by  any  means  rank  among  Japan's 
best  keramic  achievements,  from  a Western  point  of 
view.  But  the  very  features  that  detract  from  its 

37 


JAPAN 

decorative  aspect  were  those  that  recommended  it  to 
Rikiu  as  a type  of  the  rustic  simplicity  which  he 
desired  to  impose  in  the  observances  of  his  cult.  The 
student’s  interest  in  the  Raku-yaki  is  not  solely  derived 
from  the  place  it  occupies  on  the  threshold  of  Japan’s 
keramic  industry.  That,  indeed,  gives  it  historic  im- 
portance. Kato  Shirozaemon  and  his  immediate 
successors  produced  ware  of  much  greater  technical 
beauty.  Gorodayu  Go-shonzui  stands  far  above  Ch5- 
jiro  as  a technical  expert.  But  the  pottery  of  Toshiro 
and  the  porcelain  of  Shonzui  represent  comparatively 
isolated  efforts ; whereas  the  Raku-yaki  marks  the 
opening  of  an  industrial  era  which  continued  through- 
out three  centuries  and  gave  to  the  world  nearly  all 
the  exquisite  works  of  art  that  have  made  Japan  so 
famous.  Moreover,  the  ware  became  a common  pro- 
duct of  domestic  industry,  and  the  Kyoto  Raku-yaki 
was  but  a fraction  of  that  produced  throughout  the 
Empire. 

The  Taiko  did  not  live  to  witness  many  signs  of  the 
progress  that  he  had  sought  so  vigorously  to  encourage. 
He  died  in  1598.  In  the  matter  of  keramics,  Kyoto 
may  be  said  to  have  disappointed  his  fostering  efforts, 
and  in  order  to  trace  the  results  of  the  command  he 
issued  to  the  leaders  of  the  Korean  expedition,  it  is 
necessary  to  turn  to  the  south,  the  island  of  the  Nine 
Provinces,  where  the  fiefs  of  the  most  powerful  among 
those  chieftains  lay. 


38 


Chapter  II 

WARES  OF  HIZEN 

OF  the  four  principal  islands  forming  the  Jap- 
anese Empire,  the  most  southerly  is  called 
Kiushiu,  or  the  ‘‘  Nine  Provinces.’’  It  was 
here  that  the  first  European  adventurers 
landed  in  Japan,  and  inaugurated  a trade  which  flour- 
ished, in  varying  degree,  until  the  final  opening  of  the 
country  four  hundred  years  later. 

Many  erroneous  inferences  bearing  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  keramics  have  been  drawn  from  the  circum- 
stances under  which  this  trade  was  conducted  by  the 
Portuguese,  Spanish,  Dutch,  and  English.  Connois- 
seurs have  even  ventured  to  fix  the  age  of  the  first 
Japanese  porcelain  carried  to  Europe  by  reference  to 
the  date  of  the  earliest  commercial  intercourse  with 
the  Portuguese.  The  existence  of  porcelain  in  Japan 
being  assumed,  there  is  little  difficulty  in  the  further 
assumption  that  such  a novel  and  beautiful  object  must 
have  attracted  the  attention  of  the  shrewd  foreign 
merchants.  When  hypothesis  is  substituted  for  his- 
tory, the  limits  of  a writer’s  statements  depend  mainly 
on  his  personal  equation.  Messrs.  Audsley  and  Bowes, 
while  admitting  that  no  particulars  are  given  by 
Kaempfer,  the  most  trustworthy  annalist  of  those  early 
days,  with  regard  to  the  nature  of  the  commodities  ex- 
ported from  the  Portuguese  factories  in  Hirado  and 
Nagasaki,  nevertheless  assert  that  from  what  Kaempfer 

39 


JAPAN 

does  state,  ‘‘  one  may  readily  surmise  that  rare  speci- 
mens of  porcelain  were  among  their  exports.”  What 
Kaempfer  wrote  is  as  follows  : — 

Here  I shall  leave  for  a while  the  affairs  of  religion,  to  say 
a few  words  concerning  the  commerce  and  trade  of  the  Portu- 
guese. The  merchants  in  their  trade,  and  the  priests  in  the 
propagating  of  the  gospel,  prospered  equally  well.  The 
merchants  married  the  daughters  of  the  richest  inhabitants, 
and  disposed  of  their  goods  to  the  best  advantage.  The 
gold  of  the  country  was  exchanged  against  European  and 
Indian  curiosities,  medicines,  stuffs,  and  other  things  of  the 
like  nature.  Upwards  of  three  hundred  tons  of  this  precious 
metal  were  exported  every  year,  for  at  that  time  they  had 
full  liberty  to  import  and  to  export  what  goods  and  in  what 
quantity  they  pleased.  At  the  time  of  their  rising  greatness 
they  imported  their  goods  in  large  ships,  but  upon  the  de- 
cline of  their  trade  they  came  thither  with  only  their  galliots^ 
as  they  call  them,  or  smaller  vessels.  They  first  put  into 
the  harbours  of  Bungo  and  Hirado.  Then  they  came 
only  to  Nagasaki.  The  gain  upon  the  goods  imported  was 
at  least  cent,  per  cent.,  and  they  got  not  a little  gain  upon 
what  they  exported.  It  is  believed  that  had  the  Portuguese 
enjoyed  the  trade  to  Japan  but  twenty  years  longer,  upon 
the  same  foot  as  they  did  for  some  time,  such  riches  would 
have  been  transported  out  of  this  Ophir  to  Macao,  and  there 
would  have  been  such  a plenty  and  flow  of  gold  and  silver  in 
that  town,  as  sacred  writs  mention  there  was  at  Jerusalem  in 
the  times  of  Solomon.  It  is  needless  here  to  enter  into  all 
the  particulars  of  their  trade,  and  I think  it  sufficient  to  men- 
tion, that  even  in  the  last  years  of  their  going  to  Japan,  when 
their  trade  was  in  its  greatest  decline,  I mean  in  16363^ 
chests  of  silver,  or  2,350,000  thails^  were  carried  on  board 
four  ships  from  Nagasaki  to  Macao.  In  1637  they  imported 
goods,  and  exported  money,  to  the  value  of  2,142,565  thails^ 
on  board  six  ships;  and  in  1638,  to  the  value  of  1,259,023 
t hails ^ only  with  two  galliots.  And  I found  it  mentioned  that, 
some  years  before,  they  sent  away,  on  board  a small  ship  of 
theirs,  upwards  of  one  hundred  tons  of  gold. 

40 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

There  is  nothing  in  this  account  to  suggest  ‘‘  rare 
specimens  of  porcelain/"  The  fact  is  that,  while  the 
Portuguese  were  trading  at  the  ports  of  Kiushiu,  the 
manufacture  of  porcelain,  such  as  they  would  have 
been  likely  to  purchase,  was  not  carried  on  either  there 
or  anywhere  else  in  Japan.  Gorodayu  Go-shonzui, 
returning  from  China  early  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
manufactured  a few  hundred  pieces  of  blue-and- white 
porcelain  with  the  materials  which  he  had  brought 
from  the  Po-yang  Lake,  and  died  before  the  first 
“black  ship""  sighted  Tanegashima.  It  is  most  im- 
probable that  any  of  his  pieces  came  into  the  hands  of . 
the  Portuguese.  Produced  in  quantities  too  small  and 
at  too  great  cost  to  become  an  article  of  ordinary  com- 
merce, the  specimens  cannot  have  possessed  any  at- 
traction for  traders  whose  headquarters  were  in  the 
country  from  which  Shonzui  had  derived  his  knowl- 
edge and  his  materials.  After  Shonzui"s  death  his 
immediate  successors  were  unable  to  manufacture  any- 
thing but  stone-ware,  which  certainly  was  not  of  such 
a nature  as  to  invite  the  attention  of  European  traders  ; 
and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  first  Japanese  porce- 
lain, properly  so  called,  the  production  of  which  com- 
menced more  than  half  a century  after  the  arrival  of 
the  Portuguese  in  Kiushiu. 

Hizen  is  one  of  the  fairest  provinces  in  Japan.  Its 
eastern  and  northern  districts  are  occupied  by  hills 
of  gentle  contour,  fertile  valleys,  and  picturesque 
streams.  Its  western  portion  consists  of  a multitude 
of  lovely  islets,  the  principal  of  which  is  Hirado.  It 
has  six  mineral  springs  and  thirteen  famous  cascades, 
and  its  soil  is  exceptionally  fertile.  In  olden  times  it 
was  included,  with  the  neighbouring  province  of 
Higo,  in  the  district  known  as  Hi-no-kuniy  or  the 

41 


JAPAN 

“ country  of  fire  ; ” a name  derived  from  a miracu- 
lous meteor  which  is  said  to  have  guided  the  cele- 
brated warrior  Take  Ogumi  (b.  c.  97)  in  his  campaign 
against  the  rebellious  aborigines. 

Arita  is  a mountainous  district  in  Hizen.  It  has 
been  stated  in  the  preceding  chapter  that  Shonzui 
settled  there  on  his  return  from  China.  But  the  fact 
is  not  accurately  established.  Some  authorities  main- 
tain that  he  built  his  kiln  at  a place  called  Midare- 
bashi,  two  or  three  miles  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
Arita  region.  Be  this  as  it  may,  his  immediate  suc- 
cessors certainly  worked  at  Midare-bashi,  their  factory 
being  known  as  Nangawara.  Their  productions  were 
stone-ware  decorated  with  blue  sous  couverte.  The 
province  of  Hizen  already  possessed  potteries  of  some 
reputation  ; notably  that  of  Karatsu,  to  which  more 
detailed  allusion  will  be  made  hereafter,  and  one  in 
the  Matsuo  district.  Work  had  been  carried  on  at 
the  latter  since  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century,  but 
nothing  was  manufactured  that  deserved  to  be  classed 
with  objects  of  art.  Indeed,  if  the  wares  of  Karatsu 
be  excepted,  it  may  be  said  that  Hizen  was  practically 
unknown,  from  a keramic  point  of  view,  prior  to 
Shonzui’s  time.  And  after  his  death  the  Hizen  work- 
shops would  doubtless  have  relapsed  into  their  pre- 
vious state  of  insignificance  but  for  an  event  which 
gave  a marked  impetus  to  keramic  industry  at  all  the 
great  centres  in  Japan. 

That  event  was  the  return  (1592—1598)  of  the 
Japanese  troops  from  Korea,  bringing  with  them  a 
number  of  Korean  potters,  as  Hideyoshi  the  Taiko 
had  directed.  These  foreign  workmen  were  dis- 
tributed chiefly  throughout  the  nine  provinces  of 
Kiushu.  Hizen  received  a good  many,  and  their 

42 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

presence  speedily  made  itself  felt,  less,  perhaps,  for 
the  sake  of  what  they  were  able  to  accomplish  than 
because  of  the  interest  which  the  feudal  barons  thus 
acquired  in  the  progress  of  the  potter’s  art.  The  ter- 
ritorial magnates,  having  openly  associated  themselves 
with  such  an  enterprise  and  taken  the  trouble  to 
import  experts  from  beyond  the  sea,  were  not  likely 
to  let  the  industry  languish  for  lack  of  patronage. 
Hideyoshi  doubtless  anticipated  this,  and  the  event 
justified  his  forecast. 

It  becomes  here  a point  of  importance  to  know  what 
Korea  could  teach  Japan  about  keramic  manufactures  at  the 
time  when  these  Korean  potters  were  brought  over  by  the 
’Taiko  s generals  ; that  is  to  say,  at  the  close  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  The  subject  is  complicated  by  the  existence  in 
Japan  of  a large  number  of  specimens  which,  though  attrib- 
uted by  the  Japanese  to  Korean  factories,  and  supposed  to 
represent  the  best  efforts  of  Korean  workshops,  are  erro- 
neously classified  in  both  respects.  The  most  important  of 
these  is  ivory-white,  translucid  porcelain  of  fine  quality,  not 
to  be  distinguished  by  any  intelligible  test  from  the  well- 
known  hlanc  de  chine  of  Western  collectors.  For  at  least 
four  centuries  Japanese  virtuosi  have  not  hesitated  to  pro- 
nounce this  beautiful  ware  a Korean  product.  The  theory 
used  to  be  stoutly  maintained  by  the  late  Mr.  Ninagawa 
Noritane,  who  asserted  that  the  difference  between  the  so- 
called  Korean  porcelain  and  that  of  China  was  discernible 
by  any  experienced  eye.  But  Mr.  Ninagawa  himself  could 
never  explain  wherein  this  difference  consisted,  nor  has  any 
other  Japanese  expert  been  more  successful.  Certainly  the 
colour  and  texture  of  the  glaze  in  both  wares  are  identical, 
as  are  also  the  shapes  and  decorative  designs  — when  any 
such  exist  — whether  incised  or  in  relief.  As  evidence  in 
favour  of  the  Korean  origin  of  the  ware,  reference  has  been 
made  to  a passage  in  the  Tao-lu  (History  of  Ching-te-chen 
Keramics),  where  it  is  stated  that  among  the  wares  of  Korea 
some  esteem  was  enjoyed  by  porcelain  ornamented  with 

43 


JAPAN 

flowers,  incised  or  in  relief,  resembling  the  white  Ting-yao  of 
the  Sung  dynasty.  But  though  this  statement  is  beyond 
question,  it  contradicts  rather  than  corroborates  the  Japanese 
contention.  For  the  Ting-yao  of  the  Sung  dynasty  was  not 
comparable  with  the  so-called  Korean  white.’'  It  would 
be  difficult,  indeed,  to  adduce  two  wares  which,  while  slightly 
resembling  each  other  in  colour,  are  more  essentially  different 
in  quality  of  paste  and  glaze.  The  Ting-yao  is  thin,  having 
soh  patOy  a fragile  rather  than  a solid  appearance,  and  a dis- 
tinct creaminess,  or  buff-like  tinge.  The  Haku-gorai  (white 
of  Korai,  /.  e,  Korea),  as  the  Japanese  called  the  supposed 
Korean  porcelain,  has,  on  the  contrary,  tolerably  thick 
biscuit,  and  owes  its  charm  entirely  to  the  peculiarly  delicate 
pinkish  or  ivory-like  tone  of  its  soft,  lustrous  glaze.  There 
is,  in  short,  no  valid  reason  to  doubt  that  the  so-called 
Haku-g'drai  was  simply  the  now  well-known  “ Ivory  White” 
of  China  — the  Ming  Chien-yao  — which,  reaching  the  Japa- 
nese originally  via  Korea,  was  erroneously  attributed  by  them 
to  that  kingdom,  just  as  they  credited  Cochin  China  with 
the  manufacture  of  faience  for  which  it  had  only  served  as 
a place  of  export.  Several  specimens  of  this  Haku-gorai  are 
catalogued  by  Western  amateurs  among  Korean  products,  but 
the  belief,  though  still  commonly  current  in  Japan,  will  not 
survive  the  test  of  investigation.  It  may  be  concluded 
without  hesitation  that  the  Haku-g'drai  was  never  made  in 
Korea,  and  that  it  belongs  absolutely  to  the  Ming  Chien-yaOy 
or  Ivory  White  of  China.  Another  ware  erroneously  as- 
cribed to  Korea  by  Japanese  collectors  is  stone- ware  having 
designs  painted  in  chocolate-brown,  or  almost  black,  pigment. 
It  is  called  E-gdrai  (painted  ware  of  Korai)  in  Japan,  where 
considerable  quantities  of  it  are  preserved  among  the  treas- 
ures of  the  tea-clubs.  It  has  dense,  dark  pate^  over  which 
is  run  very  thin  glaze,  generally  showing  a marked  tinge  of 
buff.  To  the  glaze  are  applied  coarsely  executed  tracings 
of  figures,  animals,  or  elementary  floral  designs,  the  colour, 
muddy  chocolate  or  brownish  black,  being  obtained  from  the 
juice  of  the  Diospyros  Kaki  [Kaki  no  shibi^.  The  best  speci- 
mens cannot  be  called  either  beautiful  or  artistic : their 
homely  and  unpretentious  character  alone  introduced  them 

44 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

to  the  notice  and  favour  of  the  Japanese  tea-clubs.  They 
- were  not  manufactured  in  Korea  at  all,  being  in  fact  a 
Chinese  ware  made  at  Tsu-chou  in  the  province  of  Honan, 
where  large  quantities  of  similar  though  greatly  inferior 
ware  are  still  manufactured.  Of  course  it  cannot  be 
absolutely  denied  that  imitations  were  produced  in  Korea, 
but  there  is  no  evidence  of  such  imitation,  and  under  any 
circumstances  the  ware  should  not  find  a place  in  the  list  of 
purely  Korean  efforts.  Whether  the  misconception  as  to 
the  origin  was  caused  by  its  coming  to  Japan  in  junks  that 
touched  at  a Korean  port,  or  whether  it  had  actually  been 
used  by  the  people  of  the  little  kingdom  before  it  came  into 
Japanese  hands,  there  is  not  much  occasion,  even  if  there 
were  any  means,  to  determine.  Eliminating  these  two  wares, 
then,  there  still  remain  in  Japanese  collections  numerous 
specimens  indisputably  of  Korean  origin  which  are  supposed 
to  represent  the  best  efforts  of  that  country's  experts.  Re- 
cent researches  in  Korea  itself  have  shown,  however,  that 
the  supposition  is  erroneous.  The  wares  familiar  to  Jap- 
anese connoisseurs  and  highly  valued  by  them  as  Korea’s 
choicest  manufactures  must  be  generally  classed  in  quite  an 
inferior  category.  The  great  majority  of  them  probably 
came  to  Japan  at  the  time  of  the  invasion  of  the  peninsula 
by  t\\Q  .Talk'd' s army  (1592)  or  subsequently;  but  even  if 
their  import  be  antedated  by  a century,  and  even  if  it  be 
assumed  that  they  belong  to  the  period  of  the  inauguration 
of  the  tea-clubs  by  the  ex- Regent  Yoshimasa,  they  would 
still  be  nearly  a hundred  years  subsequent  to  the  commence- 
ment of  the  final  decadence  of  keramic  art  in  the  peninsula. 
That  art  practically  came  to  an  end  at  the  close  of  the  four- 
teenth century.  It  had  flourished  at  one  place  only.  Song- 
do  (or  Kai-song),  the  capital  of  the  kingdom  under  the 
dynasty  that  preceded  the  present,  and  when,  on  the  fall  of 
the  dynasty,  the  capital  was  moved  to  Han-chung  (com- 
monly called  Soul),  the  potters  gradually  abandoned  the 
industry.  Nothing  is  known  exactly  of  the  reasons  that  led 
to  this  abandonment,  but  it  may  perhaps  be  referred  to  loss 
of  royal  patronage  and  court  custom.  At  all  events,  as  the 
potteries  at  Song-do  were  closed,  no  others  sprang  up  else- 

45 


JAPAN 

where  of  equal  excellence.  The  potter's  trade  rapidly  fell 
into  neglect ; the  knowledge  of  the  art  disappeared  in  great 
part,  and  nothing  continued  to  be  produced  except  coarser 
classes  of  utensils.  This  misfortune  has  been  sometimes 
associated  with  the  miserable  condition  into  which  the  country 
was  thrown  by  the  Japanese  invasion  of  1592,  but  the  truth 
is  that  fully  two  centuries  earlier  (1390)  the  closing  of  the 
best  factories  at  Song-do  had  brought  the  period  of  good 
keramic  work  to  an  end.  Roughly  speaking,  therefore,  an 
age  of  five  centuries  at  least  may  be  ascribed  to  any  choice 
Korean  specimens,  and  of  these  few  found  their  way  to 
Japan.  These  were  three  principal  varieties,  but  in  speak- 
ing of  them  it  must  be  premised  that  the  subject  of  Korean 
keramics  still  awaits  accurate  investigation,  and  that  the  in- 
formation now  possessed  may  have  to  be  modified  hereafter. 
The  three  varieties  are  briefly  but  confusedly  alluded  to 
in  the  "Tao-lu  (History  of  King-te-chen),  where  they  are 
classed  as  Kao-li-yao,  or  ware  of  Kao-li  (Japanese  Korai), 
which  was  the  name  given  to  the  peninsula  under  the  pre- 
vious dynasty.  When  the  present  dynasty  came  to  the 
throne  at  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century,  the  name  was 
changed  to  Chaosen  or  Chosen.  Thus,  in  the  appellation 
of  the  ware,  we  have  an  indirect  indication  of  the  era  of  its 
manufacture;  a point  upon  which  Japanese  connoisseurs 
insist,  invariably  applying  the  term  Korai-yaki  (ware  of  Korai 
or  Kaoli)  to  specimens  dating  farther  back  than  the  transfer 
of  the  capital  from  Song-do  to  Han-chung,  and  the  term 
Chosen-yaki  (ware  of  Chosen  or  Chaosen)  to  ware  manu- 
factured under  the  present  dynasty.  The  three  varieties  in 
question  are  white  stone-ware,  or  semi-porcelain,  celadon^ 
and  faience  with  inlaid  decoration.  The  first  is  compared 
by  the  T’ao-lu  to  the  white  Ting-yao  of  the  Sung  dynasty  {vide 
History  of  Chinese  Keramics).  The  only  authentic  speci- 
mens of  it  known  to  foreign  collectors  are  cups  and  bowls 
exhumed,  chiefly,  from  tombs  of  men  of  rank.  They  show 
a high  standard  of  technical  skill.  Like  the  Sung  Ting-yao 
to  which  they  have  been  compared,  the  quality  of  thtw  pate 
almost  entitles  them  to  be  classed  with  translucid  hard  por- 
celain. Some  of  them,  indeed,  are  translucid,  but  the  non- 

46 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

crystalline  character  of  their  fracture  indicates  a smaller 
proportion  of  silica  in  the  mass  than  is  generally  present  in 
porcelain  proper.  The  glaze  is  thin,  lustrous,  and  soft;  not 
perfectly  pure  in  colour,  but  showing  a greyish  or  cream-like 
tinge.  The  ornamentation  appears  to  consist  invariably  of 
simple  diapers,  rudimentary  floral  designs,  or  convention- 
alised phoenixes.  They  are  fairly  finished  below,  but  ad- 
hering to  the  under  surface  are  generally  found  spur- 
marks,”  three  in  number,  showing  that  the  piece  was 
supported  in  the  kiln  on  little  felspathic  pillars  — a method 
supposed  by  some  writers  to  be  peculiar  to  Japan,  though 
in  reality  it  was  borrowed  from  Korea.  The  Chinese 
potters  of  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  when  baking 
such  objects  as  bowls  or  cups,  usually  rested  them  on  their 
upper  rims  in  the  oven,  the  result  being,  of  course,  that  the 
lips  were  rough  and  unglazed.  If  such  a habit  prevailed 
at  any  time  in  Korea,  there  is  no  evidence  of  the  fact.  It  is 
possible  that  future  explorations  in  Korea  may  furnish  strik- 
ing examples  of  this  variety  of  white  semi-porcelain,  but 
at  present  it  is  exceedingly  scarce,  and  the  rare  specimens 
procurable  are  of  insignificant  character.  A point  to  be 
noted  here  is  that  the  Koreans,  like  the  Japanese,  appreciated 
the  productions  of  foreign  kilns.  They  imported  and 
valued  Chinese  wares,  and  the  amateur  must  be  careful  not 
to  assume  that  everything  found  in  a Korean  tomb  is  neces- 
sarily of  Korean  manufacture.  Some  of  the  white  semi- 
porcelain of  Persia,  obtained  in  Han-chung  (Soul),  has  been 
mistaken  for  a local  product. 

The  second  and  more  familiar  variety  of  ancient  Korean 
ware  is  celadon.  In  the  ‘‘  History  of  Ching-te-chen  Keramics” 
it  is  spoken  of  as  having  a pale  green  colour  and  resembling 
the  well-known  Lung-chuan-yao,  the  staple  celadon  of  the 
Middle  Kingdom.  There  is,  however,  an  easily  recognised 
difference  between  the  celadon  of  Korea  — namely,  the  ware 
manufactured  before  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century  — 
and  that  of  China : the  pate  of  the  former  is  not  so  dense  or 
dark  in  colour  as  the  pate  of  the  latter.  The  Korean  glaze 
also  is  much  thinner  than  the  Chinese,  and  lacks  the  pecu- 
liarly solid  yet  soft  appearance  of  the  latter.  Nevertheless 

47 


JAPAN 

the  Song-do  cUadon  presents  attractive  features.  Bowls,  cups, 
ewers,  and  occasionally  vases,  their  biscuit  thin,  their  glaze 
smooth,  their  colour  a delicate  green,  their  incised  decoration 
graceful  and  chaste,  and  their  general  technique  good,  indi- 
cate that  the  potters  of  the  peninsula  were  not  altogether  dis- 
tanced by  their  Chinese  contemporaries  of  the  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth  centuries.  Mr.  W.  R.  Carles,  sometime  British 
Consul  in  Han-chung,  says,  in  his  “Life  in  Korea”: 
“ Song-do  was  formerly  the  place  of  manufacture  of  the 
best  Korean  pottery,  but  on  the  removal  of  the  capital  the 
trade  fell,  and  the  workmen,  refusing  to  follow  the  Court, 
gradually  abandoned  their  industry,  the  knowledge  of  which 
has  now  been  forgotten.  In  the  winter  after  my  return  to 
Soul  I succeeded  in  purchasing  a few  pieces,  part  of  a set  of 
thirty-six,  which  were  said  to  have  been  taken  out  of  some  large 
grave  near  Song-do.  These  are,  for  the  most  part,  celadon 
ware,  glazed,  with  a pattern  running  underneath  the  glaze. 
As  described  by  a gentleman  who  examined  them  carefully, 
the  main  patterns  appear  to  be  engraved  on  the  clay  as  fine 
grooves  or  scratches,  and  the  subsequently  applied  glaze  is 
put  on  so  thickly  as  to  obliterate  the  grooves  and  produce  an 
even  surface.  They  are  made  of  an  opaque  clay  of  a light 
reddish  colour,  and  appear,  as  usual  with  Oriental  fictile  ware, 
to  have  been  supported  in  the  kiln  on  three  supports,  and 
the  supports  used,  in  several  instances  at  least,  have  been 
small  fragments  of  opaque  quartz,  portions  of  which  still 
adhere  to  some  of  them.  In  one  of  the  smaller  pieces  is  a 
radiate  ornament  in  the  centre,  which  appears  to  be  made  up 
of  a series  of  irregular  white  fragments  of  quartz  or  porcelain, 
which  must  have  been  embedded  in  the  clay  before  the  bak- 
ing, and  some  of  which  project  above  the  surface,  though 
thickly  covered  with  the  glaze.”  The  illustrations  of  these 
specimens  convey  a good  idea  of  the  shapes  and  decorative 
styles  in  vogue  at  the  Song-do  workshops.  In  some  cases 
the  designs  incised  in  the  fate  were  filled  with  white  clay  be- 
fore applying  the  c'eladon  glaze.  A delicate  and  attractive 
effect  was  thus  obtained.  In  this  type  a favourite  design 
appears  to  have  been  cranes  flying  amid  conventional  clouds, 
hence  called  by  the  Japanese  Un-kaku-de^  or  cloud-and-crane 

48 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

variety.  Celadon  continued  to  be  produced  at  Song-do,  or 
in  its  neighbourhood,  throughout  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
centuries,  but  it  is  easy  to  identify  these  later  specimens  by 
the  crude,  garish  aspect  of  their  glaze,  their  coarse  crackle,  — 
the  best  early  specimens  are  without  crackle,  — and  their  gen- 
erally inferior  technique. 

The  third  principal  variety  of  Korai-yaki  (or  Kao-li-yao)  is 
faience.  It  has  fine  pate^  tolerably  close,  and  varying  in 
colour  from  light  red  to  brownish  grey.  In  the  biscuit  deco- 
rative designs  are  incised,  and  the  incisions  are  filled  with 
white  clay,  over  which  is  run  glaze  of  greater  or  less  thick- 
ness and  lustre.  The  glaze  is  seldom  of  exactly  similar  col- 
our in  two  pieces.  It  varies  from  rich,  full-toned  brown  to' 
light  grey,  something  of  the  tone  being  due  to  the  colour  of 
the  pate^  which  is  partially  discernible  through  its  diapha- 
nous covering.  In  occasional  specimens  the  red  biscuit  is 
here  and  there  sufficiently  visible  to  impart  an  appearance  of 
rosy  flecks  or  clouds,  a feature  which,  though  apparently  a 
technical  defect,  commands  the  admiration  of  Japanese  con- 
noisseurs. The  decoration  is  elaborated,  in  very  rare  in- 
stances, by  the  use  of  a dark  brown  pigment  — the  juice  of 
the  Diospyros  Kaki  — under  the  glaze,  but  it  is  a curious  fact 
that  never,  so  far  as  is  known,  did  Korean  potters  employ  blue 
sous  couverte.  No  fully  satisfactory  reason  is  assigned  for 
this  failure  to  adopt  a style  so  much  practised  and  so  justly 
esteemed  in  the  neighbouring  empire  of  China.  The  gen- 
erally received  hypothesis  is  that  supplies  of  cobalt  did  not 
exist  in  Korea. 

Faience  of  the  class  described  here  ranked  lowest  among  the 
keramic  products  of  Korea.  It  is  the  ware  alluded  to  in  that 
passage  of  the  Tao-lu  which  Julien  somewhat  perplexingly 
renders : “ Si  les  vases  sont  ornees  de  branches  de  fleurs 
blanches,  elles  n’ont  dans  ce  royaume  (Coree)  qu’une  valeur 
mediocre.''  In  China  all  surface  ornamentation  applied  to 
porcelain  or  pottery  is  spoken  of  as  “ flowers,"  and  what  the 
author  of  the  Tao-lu  really  intended  to  say  was  that  speci- 
mens having  decoration  in  white  were  counted  of  mediocre 
quality  in  Korea.  Yet  among  such  specimens  there  are  many 
possessing  great  attractions  for  Western  connoisseurs.  Their 

VOL.  VIII.  — 4 aq 


JAPAN 

white  incised  patterns  looking  out  from  beneath  vitreous 
brown  or  grey  glaze,  represent  a style  at  once  effective  and 
delicate.  It  will  be  seen,  by  and  by,  that  this  ware  furnished 
the  model  for  a beautiful  Japanese  faience  known  as  Tatsu- 
shiro-yaki.  Being  not  only  the  most  characteristic  but  almost 
the  commonest  ware  of  the  peninsula,  it  came  to  Japan  in 
considerable  quantities,  whereas  of  the  fine  celodon  and  white 
semi-porcelain  of  Song-do  very  few  good  specimens  seem  to 
have  crossed  the  sea.  Even  of  the  variety  now  under  dis- 
cussion it  is  doubtful  whether  really  first-class  examples  came 
into  the  possession  of  Japanese  collectors.  Comparatively 
crude,  homely  features  appealed  to  the  severe  taste  of  the 
tea-clubs,  by  whom  the  Kbrai-yaki  was  from  the  first  taken 
into  favour,  and  under  their  inspiration  rustic  and  rough  ele- 
ments came  to  be  regarded  as  preferable  to  the  technical  ex- 
cellence of  which  Korean  keramists  were  certainly  capable 
five  hundred  years  ago.  Reverentially  preserved  in  Jap- 
anese collections  are  cups,  bowls,  censers,  bottles,  and  vases 
that  fall  ludicrously  below  any  common-sense  standard.  They 
received  from  their  sentimental  possessors  titles  often,  though 
unintentionally,  suggestive  of  their  inartistic  character.  Ex- 
amples are  the  Mishima-gorai^so  called  because  its  incised  deco- 
ration of  white  zigzags,  arranged  in  regular  lines,  resembled 
the  ideographic  text  of  almanacks  compiled  at  Mishima ; 
and  the  Hake-me-mishima^  or  brush-mark  Mishima,*'  a 
name  suggested  by  the  fact  that  the  white  glazing  material 
employed  to  fill  up  the  incised  design  is  smeared  over  parts 
of  the  surface  as  though  rudely  daubed  on  with  a brush. 
The  Hana-mishima,  or  “ Flower  Mishima,”  is  another  type, 
distinguished  only  by  the  presence  of  petals  or  detached 
blossoms  among  the  incised  decoration.  It  should  be  noted 
that  the  white  glaze  with  which  the  incised  decoration  is  filled 
in  all  these  varieties,  has  a creamy,  lustrous  appearance,  and  a 
fine  network  of  crackle,  and  that  sometimes  it  covers  the  in- 
terior of  bowls  and  cups  having  their  outer  surfaces  decorated 
as  described  above,  — namely,  with  white  incised  designs  in  a 
brown  or  grey  field.  A fourth  variety  was  called  Go-hon-de^ 
or  ‘‘model”  ware,  because  it  was  supposed  to  have  originally 
served  as  a model  for  Japanese  keramists  in  Kyoto.  Be- 

50 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

longing  essentially  to  the  type  discussed  above,  it  is  never- 
theless distinguished  by  two  features,  the  light  grey  colour 
of  the  translucid  surface  glaze,  which  is  craquele^  and  the 
presence  of  reddish  clouds  or  spots,  owing  to  the  pate  peep- 
ing out  through  the  glaze.  It  is  generally  in  this  Go-hon-de 
that  dark  brown  pigment  occurs  in  combination  with  white 
incised  designs  sous  couverte.  Yet  another  variety  is  called 
Komo-gai  or  Kuma-gaiy  a name  of  uncertain  origin,  but  sup- 
posed to  be  connected  with  a river  named  the  Kuma-gawa,'’ 
in  the  province  of  Higo,  where  some  of  the  Korean  potters 
brought  over  by  the  ^aik'o  s generals  settled.  Of  this  class 
the  most  interesting  is  faience  having  dense,  coarse over 
which  is  run  creamy,  buff-coloured  glaze,  finely  crackled. 
There  is  no  attempt  at  decoration.  This  is  the  unquestion- 
able prototype  of  the  first  craquele  Satsuma-yaki,  In  the  same 
class  is  included  a faience  of  wholly  different  appearance.  It 
has  close,  light  grey  pate^  and  opaque,  milk-white  glaze,  ap- 
plied in  a very  thin  coat.  This  glaze  stands  alone  in  Korea, 
Japan,  or  China.  Its  colour  is  so  pure  and  its  opaqueness 
so  complete  that  it  acts  like  a coating  of  paint,  converting  a 
bowl  of  grey  pottery  into  white,  but  of  course  non-translucid, 
porcelain. 

Passing  from  these  varieties,  good  specimens  of  which 
present  features  at  least  interesting  if  not  pretty,  wares  are 
reached  that  could  never  have  been  tolerated  outside  the  at- 
mosphere of  the  tea-clubs.  Of  these  the  general  character 
is  repellent  homeliness.  One  and  all  suggest  the  idea  of 
pottery  primitive  in  the  extreme.  They  admirably  illustrate 
the  morbid  aestheticism  and  perverted  tastes  of  the  tea-clubs. 
Among  the  most  highly  appreciated  by  Japanese  connois- 
seurs and  perhaps  the  least  objectionable  to  Western  eyes  is 
a variety  called  Ido,  It  is  distinguished  by  waxy  white  glaze, 
showing  little  lustre,  covered  with  a network  of  coarse  or 
fine  crackle.  The  amateur  may  easily  mistake  this  faience 
for  the  Japanese  ware  called  Hagi-yakiy  of  which  it  was  cer- 
tainly the  prototype.  The  Korean  faience,  however,  is  dis- 
tinguishable by  its  greater  weight  and  darker  pate.  Mention 
may  also  be  made  here  of  a common  characteristic  of  Korean 
ware,  namely,  that  the  lower  rim  is  partially  glazed ; a pecu- 

51 


JAPAN 

liarity  very  rarely  found  in  Japan.  Classed  with  Ido  ware  is 
a kind  called  Ao-Ido^  or  green  Ido^  because  its  rough,  coarse 
glaze  is  pervaded  by  a tinge  of  dirty  green.  This  change  of 
colour  is  obtained  at  the  cost  of  even  greater  technical  inex- 
pertness than  the  Ido  faience  proper  shows.  Yet  more  valued 
in  Japan  is  the  Kata-de,  or  “ hard  variety.”  It  has  very  heavy 
reddish  paste,  and  thick,  greenish  blue  glaze  passing  into 
white,  delicate  in  colour  and  soft  in  texture,  but  associated 
with  marks  of  such  crude  technique  as  to  be  quite  unworthy 
of  admiration.  Belonging  to  the  same  species  is  the  Ama- 
mori-Kata-de^  or  rain-spotted  Kata-de^'  so  called  because  the 
numerous  blemishes  it  possesses  in  common  with  all  these 
primitive  productions,  are  supplemented  by  irregular  blotches, 
as  though  drops  of  dirty  rain  had  fallen  on  and  permanently 
corroded  its  surface.  Sometimes  this  unsightly  faience  has 
the  ideographs  Kin-kat,  or  “ golden  sea,”  engraved  in  its  pate. 
It  then  becomes  almost  priceless.  Similarly  distinguished  by 
engraved  ideographs  is  a variety  of  the  already  described 
Mishima  class,  known  as  Tsuka-hori  Mishima,  A still  more 
inscrutable  faience  is  the  Kaki-no-heta^  so  called  because  of 
the  resemblance  its  rough,  lustreless,  rusty-iron-coloured 
glaze  bears  to  the  calyx  of  the  persimmon  (kaki).  Worthy 
to  stand  side  by  side  with  it  are  the  Ko-fuki^  or  “ powdered  ” 
variety,  in  which  a very  heavy  brown  pate  is  covered  with 
dull,  dark  ochrey  glaze  running  into  grey;  and  the  Toto-ya^ 
or  “ fish-monger's  ” variety,  with  similar  paste  and  equally 
lustreless  but  thicker  and  softer  glaze,  showing  a distinctly 
yellow  tinge.  But  enough  has  been  said  to  convey  a general 
idea  of  the  exceedingly  homely  kinds  of  Korean  faience  most 
affected  by  Japanese  virtuosi.  The  amateur  who  desires  to 
pursue  the  subject  may  be  interested  to  know  that,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  varieties  mentioned  above,  he  can  make  himself 
acquainted  with  the  Ido-waki^  the  Hori- Mishima^  the  Ma- 
kuma-gawa^  the  Oni-kuma-gawa,  the  Han-sUy  the  Go-sho-maru^ 
the  SobakasUy  the  Ko-iraho^  the  Ki-iraho,  the  Hari-bori^  and 
the  Koma-gorai,  He  will  find  each  of  these  more  astonish- 
ing, if  possible,  than  the  other  in  lack  of  attractive  features 
and  in  abundance  of  blemishes.  Yet  by  the  Japanese  chajin 
they  are  treasured  with  infinite  reverence  and  affection. 

52 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

Their  richly  lacquered  receptacles,  their  brocade  wrappers, 
and  the  enormous  prices  they  command  — two  or  three  hun- 
dred dollars  for  a patched  old  cup  looking  as  though  it  had 
been  cut  out  of  rusty  iron — enhance  the  incongruity  and 
marvel  of  the  whole  affair.  Here,  in  short,  is  another  and 
a very  striking  example  of  the  conventional  side  of  Japanese 
aesthetics ; the  tendency  to  attach  greater  weight  to  tradition 
and  association  than  to  beauty  and  excellence. 

The  Japanese,  as  already  noted,  have  always  fully  under- 
stood that  Korean  keramic  art  entered  upon  a period  of  ap- 
parently permanent  decadence  after  the  removal  of  the 
capital  from  Song-do  and  the  accession  of  the  present  dynasty 
at  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century.  When  they  speak 
of  Chosen-Hakeme  or  Chosen-Unkaku  — i,e,  wares  of  the 
Hakeme  and  Unkaku  types  manufactured  after  the  Kingdom 
received  the  name  of  ‘‘Chosen”  — they  signify  faience  infe- 
rior, in  their  opinion,  to  Ko-Hakeme  (old  Hakeme)  and  Ko- 
Unkaku,  The  difference  is  easily  detected  by  the  distinctly 
vitreous  character  of  the  glaze  and  comparatively  light, 
porous  nature  of  the  pate  in  the  younger  specimens. 

After  what  has  been  written  above,  it  need  scarcely  be 
added  that  the  descriptions  given  by  Jacquemart,  and  follow- 
ing him  by  Miss  J.  Young,  about  Korean  porcelains  are 
myths.  The  statements  contained  in  the  third  chapter  of 
M.  Jacquemart’s  “ Histoire  de  la  Ceramique”  must  be  re- 
garded as  a singular  assemblage  of  misconceptions.  The 
Koreans  never  produced  anything  bearing  the  faintest  resem- 
blance to  the  pieces  he  confidently  ascribes  to  them.  Siebold, 
whose  experience  was  acquired  after  Japanese  keramics  had 
reached  a stage  of  high  development,  wrote  more  truly  when 
he  said  that  the  products  of  Korea  were  coarse  and  that  they 
exhibited  the  infancy  of  the  art.  Even  this  verdict,  how- 
ever, though  comparatively  just,  erred,  in  so  far  as  it  was 
founded  on  the  Japanese  chajiris  favourite  specimens  of 
Korean  faience  and  stone-ware.  Looking,  indeed,  at  the 
squalid,  impoverished,  and  inartistic  Korea  of  to-day,  the 
student  is  puzzled  to  imagine  that  it  could  ever  have  given 
valuable  aid  to  refined  and  aesthetic  Japan.  But  if  he  turns 
to  China  and  contrasts  the  present  outcome  of  her  workshops 

53 


JAPAN 

with  their  former  masterpieces,  it  becomes  easy  to  imagine 
that  the  artisans  of  Korea  also  may  have  lapsed  into  a slough 
of  incompetence  equally  deep  as  compared  with  their  original 
elevation.  At  the  time  of  the  Japanese  expedition,  how- 
ever, the  little  kingdom  was  in  a comparatively  flourishing 
condition,  and  practical  justification  existed  for  the  Gaikos 
idea  of  procuring  keramic  experts  there. 

The  Korean  experts  that  came  to  Japan  at  the 
close  of  the  sixteenth  century  were  distributed  through- 
out the  factories  in  several  fiefs,  but  for  the  present 
the  student  is  invited  to  consider  those  only  that 
reached  the  province  of  Hizen.  The  methods  taught 
by  Shonzui  were  then  practised  at  the  Nangawara 
factory,  near  Arita,  but  the  results  achieved  were  of 
little  merit  owing  to  the  inferior  nature  of  the  mate- 
rial employed.  Tradition  asserts  that  the  Nangawara 
factory  was  closed  after  Shonzui’s  death,  and  reopened 
by  one  Gosu  Gombei  towards  the  end  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  The  story  seems  to  be  a popular  record 
of  the  fact  that,  after  Shonzui’s  death,  his  imported 
materials  having  failed  and  the  production  of  porce- 
lain being  no  longer  possible,  the  work  of  his  suc- 
cessors fell  for  a time  into  disrepute,  but  subsequently 
recovered  a certain  measure  of  public  favour  by  the 
manufacture  of  stone-ware  decorated  with  Chinese 
blue,  which  mineral  has  always  been  called  Gosu  by 
the  Japanese.  But,  in  truth,  the  history  of  the  whole 
period  from  Shonzufs  death  (about  1550)  to  the 
close  of  the  sixteenth  century  is  wrapped  in  obscurity. 
Nothing  can  be  affirmed  except  that  at  the  latter  date, 
the  highest  achievement  of  the  Hizen  potters  was  a 
stone-ware  decorated,  somewhat  rudely,  with  impure 
blue  under  the  glaze.  Naoshige  was  then  represen- 
tative of  the  noble  house  of  Nabeshima,  whose  fief 

54 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

the  province  formed.  A number  of  the  Korean  im- 
migrants had  been  placed  at  his  disposal,  and  he 
caused  four  of  them  to  build  a factory  called  Hyakken- 
gama,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Arita  district. 
During  the  next  few  years  the  influence  of  these 
potters  is  distinctly  traceable.  Specimens  of  Hizen 
ware  dating  from  the  time  of  their  advent  show  the 
peculiar  white-slip  decoration  sous  couverte  which 
Korean  keramists  so  much  affected.  But  the  quality 
of  the  ware  had  not  undergone  any  improvement. 
The  workmen  were  still  unable  to  produce  anything 
comparable  with  the  excellent  porcelain  that  had 
made  Shonzui’s  reputation.  Ignorant  that  in  a hill 
within  sight  of  their  hamlet  inexhaustible  quantities' 
of  the  much  desired  porcelain-stone  were  waiting  to 
be  used,  they  continued  to  employ  the  inferior  clay 
of  their  old  quarries. 

The  circumstances  under  which  the  true  clay  was 
discovered,  though  they  mark  an  epoch  of  the  greatest 
interest,  are  involved  in  some  uncertainty.  About 
the  year  1 620,  a native  of  Toyotani,  by  name  Takahara 
Goroshichi,  arrived  in  Hizen.  Of  this  man’s  early 
history  nothing  is  known.  Like  Kato  Shirozaemon 
and  Shonzui  Gorodayu,  he  seems  to  have  conceived 
the  idea  of  travelling,  perhaps  to  China,  in  search  of 
information,  and,  the  fame  of  Shonzui’s  productions 
having  reached  him,  he  desired  to  make  himself 
acquainted  in  the  first  place  with  the  methods  practised 
in  Hizen.  In  that  age  intercourse  between  the 
vassals  of  different  fiefs  was  difficult.  Goroshichi  was 
enabled  to  accomplish  his  purpose  by  the  assistance 
of  the  priests  at  a temple  called  Shoten-ji  in  the 
province  of  Chikuzen.  The  potter  to  whom  by  their 
good  offices  he  obtained  an  introduction  was  Sakaida 

55 


JAPAN 

Kakiemon,  then,  apparently,  the  principal  Japanese 
workman  at  Arita,  and  destined,  with  his  descendants, 
to  occupy  a prominent  place  in  the  annals  of  his 
country's  keramics.  Goroshichi  thenceforth  worked 
at  Kakiemon's  kiln.  Of  his  technical  ability  nothing 
is  recorded,  but  tradition  says  that  he  chanced  one 
day  to  find  by  the  roadside  a fragment  of  stone  which 
seemed  to  possess  exceptional  qualities  for  keramic 
purposes.  Following  up  this  clew,  he  and  Kakiemon 
discovered  a hill  called  Izumi-yama,  composed  almost 
entirely  of  excellent  porcelain-stone.  If  this  tradition 
be  accepted,  the  manufacture  of  true  Japanese  porce- 
lain dates  from  about  the  year  1625.  But  other,  and 
apparently  more  trustworthy,  authorities  declare  the 
whole  account  apocryphal.  According  to  them,  the 
honour  of  the  discovery  belongs  to  Kanagai  Risampei, 
one  of  the  four  Korean  potters  who  worked  at 
Hyakken-gama.  It  is,  at  any  rate,  certain  that  from 
the  grave  of  Risampei,  opened  a few  years  ago,  there 
were  taken  specimens  of  true  porcelain,  manufactured 
with  Izumi-yama  clay  and  decorated  with  blue  under 
the  glaze.  Further  and  stronger  testimony  is  afforded 
by  researches  conducted  on  the  site  of  the  Hyakken- 
gama  factory.  It  is  known  that  this  factory  was  closed 
and  that  the  workmen  were  transferred  to  Arita  at 
least  fifteen  years  before  the  arrival  of  Goroshichi  in 
Hizen.  Yet  among  the  ruins  of  the  Hyakken  kiln 
there  have  been  found  fragments  of  true  porcelain  of 
Japanese  origin.  It  may  be  taken,  then,  as  sufficiently 
proved  that  the  Korean,  Kanagai  Risampei,  was  the 
discoverer  of  Izumi-yama,  with  its  immense  stores  of 
porcelain  stone,  and  that  the  date  of  the  discovery 
was  about  1605. 

Risampei's  three  comrades  were  Iwao,  Momota, 

56 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

and  Fuka-umi  Obasen.  Shortly  after  the  discovery 
of  Izumi-yama,  their  kiln  at  Hyakken  was  closed  by 
order  and  they  were  transferred  to  the  Arita  district. 
Doubtless  the  immediate  purpose  of  this  change  was 
to  bring  the  workmen  within  easy  reach  of  their  ma- 
terials. But  subsequently  the  secluded  position  of 
Arita-gbri  conferred  an  additional  advantage.  Em- 
bedded among  the  spurs  of  Kuro-kamiyama,  or 
“ black-hair  mountain/’  it  could  easily  be  guaranteed 
against  all  ingress,  and  when  the  unique  nature  of  its 
mineral  resources  as  well  as  the  excellence  of  its 
experts’  processes  came  to  be  appreciated,  the  feudal 
chief  of  the  province  placed  guard-houses  at  the  passes, 
caused  every  person  and  thing  passing  in  or  out  to  be 
strictly  examined,  and  severely  penalised  the  sale 
of  the  wares. 

Some  fifteen  years  after  the  transfer  of  the  factory 
to  Arita,  the  names  of  Kakiemon  and  Goroshichi 
began  to  be  prominently  associated  with  the  manu- 
facture of  the  new  porcelain.  The  former  is  said  to 
have  been  a man  of  remarkable  enterprise  and  origi- 
nality, and  these  faculties,  as  well  as  his  artistic 
instincts,  raised  him  to  the  head  of  the  potters.  One 
can  readily  conceive  that  whatever  technical  skill  the 
Koreans  possessed,  their  artistic  inferiority  must  have 
placed  them  at  a disadvantage  compared  with  the 
Japanese.  But  as  yet  there  was  not  much  opportunity 
to  display  artistic  inspiration.  For  some  forty  years 
after  the  discovery  of  the  Izumi-yama  stone  it  is  prob- 
able that  the  Arita  potters  decorated  their  wares 
chiefly  with  blue  under  the  glaze.  Until  quite 
recently  it  was  believed  that  they  were  unacquainted 
with  the  processes  of  applying  vitrifiable  enamels  over 
the  glaze.  But  excavations  undertaken  two  years  ago 

57 


JAPAN 

by  order  of  the  authorities  at  the  site  of  the  Hyakken 
factory  resulted  in  the  finding  of  numerous  fragments 
of  porcelain  decorated  with  vitrifiable  enamels.  None 
of  these  pieces  show  any  traces  of  gold  and  silver : 
the  colours  used  are  red,  green,  and  blue  only.  They 
suffice,  however,  to  dispel  all  doubts  as  to  the  ability 
of  the  Hizen  keramists  to  manufacture  ware  of  this 
nature  as  early  as  1620.  On  the  other  hand,  the  art 
of  such  decoration  was  evidently  in  its  infancy.  Blue 
sous  couverte  was  preferred  as  a decorative  agent. 
Some  fine  specimens  of  this  class  were  probably  man- 
ufactured, but  in  quality  of  glaze  and  purity  of 
colour  they  were  not  yet  comparable  with  the  master- 
pieces of  Shonzui,  or  the  porcelains  imported  from 
the  Middle  Kingdom.  Besides,  in  those  early  days, 
the  difficulties  of  using  the  Izumi-yama  stone  must 
have  been  even  greater  than  they  were  afterwards 
found.  In  manufacturing  porcelain  elsewhere,  whether 
in  China  or  Japan,  pate  was  formed  by  mixing  at 
least  two  materials,  the  one  infusible,  the  other  fusible. 
These  are  the  Kaolin  and  the  Petuntse  of  the  Chinese  ; 
the  ‘‘bone’'  and  the  “flesh”  of  the  ware.  But  the 
Izumi-yama  stone  was  employed  from  the  first  with- 
out any  admixture  of  foreign  matter.  That  nature 
should  have  provided  in  Japan  only,  and  at  only  one 
place  in  Japan,  material  fit  to  be  used  in  all  its  sim- 
plicity by  the  porcelain-makers,  has  always  been 
regarded  by  the  potters  of  Hizen  as  a sort  of  special 
dispensation.  On  the  other  hand,  it  has  been  shown 
of  late  years,  that  the  Arita  stone  by  no  means  corre- 
sponds with  European  ideas  of  an  orthodox  porcelain 
earth.  Ordinary  porcelain  stone  consists  of  46.33 
per  cent  of  silica,  39.77  per  cent  of  alumina,  and 
13.9  per  cent  of  other  matters.  But  among  eight 

58 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

specimens  of  Arita  clay  analysed  by  Professor  H. 
Wurtz,  one  only  gave  results  nearly  corresponding 
with  this  formula  : seven  were  found  to  contain  from 
7.45  to  82.3  per  cent  of  silica;  from  12  to  19  per 
cent  of  alumina,  and  from  i to  3.7  per  cent  of  other 
matters.  The  eighth  specimen  (from  Kudaru-yama) 
contained  49.9  per  cent  of  silica;  38.7  per  cent  of 
alumina,  and  7.6  per  cent  of  other  matters,  thus  ap- 
proaching very  nearly  to  the  formula  mentioned  above 
for  porcelain  earth  proper.  From  these  figures  Wurtz 
concluded  that  the  porcelain  of  Hizen  is  made  without 
Kaolin^  and  that  its  body  consists  entirely  of  Petuntse^ 
or  petro-siliceous  minerals.  This  verdict  of  Wurtz  is 
confirmed  by  the  researches  of  an  independent  analyst, 
Gumbel,  who  examined  six  specimens  of  Arita  porce- 
lain, and  found  that  only  one  (that  made  with  material 
from  Kudaru-yama)  was  earthy.  It  will  be  seen, 
therefore,  that  Kakiemon,  Goroshichi,  and  Risampei 
had  to  work  with  a somewhat  difficult  material. 
Indeed,  it  may  be  said  generally  of  the  Arita  porcelain 
that  its  pate  is  not  naturally  of  fine  quality.  The 
utmost  care  was  necessary  in  manipulating  it,  and  so 
exhausting  was  the  labour  entailed  that  men  were 
wont  to  speak  of  human  bones  as  constituting  one  of 
the  ingredients  of  the  ware.  There  is,  therefore,  no 
reason  to  suppose  that  Kakiemon  and  his  fellow-potters 
succeeded  in  producing  anything  very  striking  in  those 
early  days.  Not  many  specimens  of  their  work  have 
survived,  but  they  suffice  to  show  that  it  was  a somewhat 
rough  porcelain,  decorated  with  blue  under  the  glaze, 
and  copied,  with  more  or  less  fidelity,  from  Chinese 
models.  The  designs  of  the  Middle  Kingdom  were 
modified  in  accordance  with  Japanese  taste,  but  the 
popular  conception  of  choice  porcelain  having  been 

59 


JAPAN 

already  educated  by  specimens  which  the  Ming  ke- 
ramists  had  been  sending  over  during  nearly  two 
centuries  and  a half,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  under- 
standing that  the  Arita  productions  did  not  excite 
much  enthusiasm.  That  they  found  their  way  to 
Europe  is  incredible.  For  though  the  Portuguese, 
and  later  the  Dutch,  traded  with  Japan  during  the 
years  when  this  first  true  Japanese  porcelain  was 
manufactured,  not  only  was  commerce  in  the  Arita 
wares  interdicted,  but  also  it  seems  most  unlikely 
that  these  merchants  would  have  encumbered  their 
ships  with  wares  interesting  only  as  specimens  of  a 
country’s  earliest  efforts  to  imitate  the  already  high 
achievements  of  a neighbouring  empire.  Had  the 
Portuguese  or  the  Dutch  foreseen  to  what  enthusiastic 
admiration  the  Western  world  would  be  stirred,  some 
three  centuries  later,  by  its  introduction  to  Japanese 
art,  they  would  doubtless  have  been  shrewd  enough  to 
carry  away  a few  historical  pieces  of  Arita  blue-and- 
white.  But  these  pious  traders  were  neither  prophets 
nor  aesthetes. 

The  factory  of  Arita  is  within  eight  miles  of  Imari, 
a port  situated  at  the  head  of  a deep,  well-sheltered 
bay  on  the  northwest  coast  of  Hizen.  Imari,  though 
itself  an  insignificant  village,  was  the  market  town  of 
the  district,  and  the  place  to  which  all  the  porcelain 
was  carried  for  distribution  by  water.  It  was  thus 
that,  when  the  Arita  ware  began  to  attract  public 
attention,  people  fell  into  the  habit  of  calling  it  by 
the  name  of  the  port  of  shipment  rather  than  by  that 
of  the  factory.  Tradition  says  that  the  first  wares 
manufactured  by  Risampei  and  his  three  Korean  com- 
rades were  designated  Kinko-yakty  Kinko  being  the 
name  — according  to  Japanese  pronunciation  — of 

6o 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

Risampei’s  native  place.  But  this  appellation  very 
soon  ceased  to  be  employed. 

Thus  far  the  chief  species  of  decoration  employed 
was  blue  under  the  glaze,  and  the  art  of  applying 
vitrifiable  enamels  had  not  advanced  beyond  a rudi- 
mentary stage.  The  credit  of  carrying  it  to  a point 
of  real  excellence  belongs  to  Sakaida  Kakiemon  and 
his  fellow-worker  Higashijima  Tokuemon.  These 
two  men  went  to  Nagasaki  in  1646  — the  date  has 
been  preserved  with  exceptional  accuracy — for  the 
purpose  of  procuring  information  from  a Chinese 
official  who  happened  to  be  there  at  the  ti-me.  Na- 
gasaki was  then  a flourishing  town  of  some  27,000 
inhabitants.  The  Portuguese  had  been  expelled  thence 
nine  years  previously,  but  the  Dutch  had  been  settled 
in  Deshima  since  1641,  and  from  seven  to  ten  of 
their  ships  entered  the  harbour  of  Nagasaki  annually. 
One  account  says  that  the  original  intention  of  Kakie- 
mon and  Tokuemon  was  to  visit  China  and  study 
there,  as  Shonzui  and  Kato  had  done  in  former  years ; 
but  that,  falling  in  with  the  master  of  a Chinese  junk, 
they  acquired  from  him  information  sufficient  for  their 
immediate  purpose.  The  latter  story  is  evidently  less 
credible  than  the  former.  Both,  however,  agree  in 
stating  that  the  knowledge  obtained  on  this  visit  to 
Nagasaki  was  only  partial.  The  Chinese  official  ex- 
plained the  method  of  preparing  and  applying  red  and 
green  enamels,  — a method  already  familiar  to  Kakie- 
mon, — but  was  either  unable  or  unwilling  to  tell  any- 
thing about  the  employment  of  gold,  silver,  or  other 
colours.  The  Arita  artists,  though  greatly  chagrined, 
were  not  disheartened  by  this  reticence.  They  worked 
with  redoubled  zest,  and  soon  succeeded,  by  their  own 
genius,  in  compensating  for  their  want  of  instruction. 

61 


JAPAN 

Up  to  this  point  Japan  had  sat  at  the  feet  of  China 
and  Korea  in  matters  relating  to  the  keramic  industry. 
Alike  in  faience  and  in  porcelain  she  owed  practically 
the  whole  of  her  technical  knowledge  to  her  two 
neighbours.  Naturally,  therefore,  one  expects  to  find 
that  when  she  first  began  to  manufacture  enamelled 
ware,  she  followed  with  more  or  less  fidelity  the 
decorative  methods  of  China,  her  preceptor  and  only 
available  model  in  this  line.  The  Ming  dynasty  was 
drawing  to  its  close  in  the  days  of  Kakiemon,  and  the 
imperial  factories  at  Ching-te-chen  were  comparatively 
idle.  But  numerous  specimens  of  their  enamelled 
porcelains  had  already  reached  Japan.  These  speci- 
mens may  be  divided  into  two  varieties,  namely,  those 
of  the  Cheng-hwa  (1465—1425)  and  earlier  Ming  eras, 
and  those  of  Lung-ching  (1567—1572)  and  Wang- 
li  (1573--1619)  eras.  In  the  former  the  enamels 
may  be  said  to  have  played  a subordinate  role.  They 
were  used  to  assist  the  modelling  of  a piece ; as  when 
a vase  takes  the  shape  of  a melon  with  a stalk  in 
brown  enamel  and  leaves  and  tendrils  in  green ; or 
they  were  employed,  sparsely  and  delicately,  to 
enhance  the  beauty  of  a cup  which  owed  not  less  of 
its  effect  to  the  excellence  of  its  pate  and  glaze.  In 
the  latter  — the  Lung-ching  and  Wang-li  productions 
— the  enamelled  decoration  is  everything  : the  quality 
of  the  ware  itself  becomes  a secondary  consideration. 
Brilliant  colours,  in  which  green  and  red  predom- 
inate, and  elaborate  designs,  seldom  relieved  by  any 
trace  of  artistic  instinct,  cover  the  surface  of  porcelain 
that  has  little  to  recommend  it  apart  from  this  pro- 
fusion of  ornament.  It  was  with  the  latter  class  of 
wares  that  Japan  was  chiefly  familiar  in  the  days  of 
Kakiemon  and  Tokuemon.  Examples  of  the  former 

62 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

had,  of  course,  come  across  the  sea,  but  so  rarely  that 
they  never  obtained  popular  recognition.  Even  to 
this  day,  ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred  Japanese 
experts  believe  that  the  representative  enamelled  por- 
celain of  the  Middle  Kingdom  is  the  Banreki  Aka-e^ 
or  red  (aka)  pictured  (e)  ware  of  Ban-re ki  (Wan-li). 
There  can  scarcely  be  any  question  that  the  models 
which  Kakiemon  and  his  comrades  had  before  them 
were  of  the  Ban-reki  Aka-ye  class.  But  they  did  not 
imitate  them.  The  art  instinct  of  Japan  asserted 
itself  from  the  outset,  and  led  to  the  manufacture  of  a 
less  profusely  decorated  porcelain. 

Instead  of  loading  their  pieces  with  diapers  and 
archaic  designs  in  red  and  green  enamels,  the  Arita 
artists  made  enamelled  brilliancy  a subordinate  feature, 
and  sought,  by  careful  painting  and  refined  motives, 
to  compensate  for  what  was  lost  in  richness  of  effect. 
The  conception  and  execution  of  the  ware  were  ex- 
cellent. The  pate  was  fine  and  pure,  having  a clear 
bell-like  timbre.  The  milk-white  glaze,  soft,  yet 
not  lacking  in  lustre,  formed  a ground  harmonising 
well  with  the  ornamentation,  which  was  simple  some- 
times to  severity.  The  enamels  were  clear  and  rich 
in  tone,  but  of  few  colours : lustreless  red,  frequently 
showing  an  orange  tint,  grass-green,  and  lilac-blue 
(over  the  glaze)  constituted  nearly  the  whole  palette. 
Of  the  decorative  subjects,  floral  medallions  were, 
perhaps,  most  common,  but  the  dragon,  the  phoenix, 
the  bamboo,  the  plum,  the  pine,  birds  fluttering  about 
a sheaf  of  corn,  other  naturalistic  subjects  together 
with  various  kinds  of  diapers,  were  constantly  de- 
picted. The  characteristics  of  this  ware  are  not 
only  the  sparseness,  but  also  the  distribution  of  the 
decoration : instead  of  being  spread  over  the  surface, 

63 


• JAPAN 

the  designs  are  confined  to  a few  places,  the  object 
apparently  being  to  surround  each  little  picture  with 
as  ample  a margin  as  possible.  This  description 
applies  to  Arita  porcelain  after  the  processes  of 
enamelled  decoration  and  other  technical  details  had 
been- fully  mastered,  a condition  which  was  probably 
attained  about  the  year  i66o.  The  chaste  style  then 
inaugurated  continued  thenceforth  to  ‘be  associated 
with  the  name  of  Kakiemon,  and  lost  nothing  in  the 
hands. of  his  descendants,  who  will  be  referred  to  in 
detail  by  and. by.  , • 

In  manufacturing  pieces  such  as  these,  a point  of  primary 
importance  was  the  preparation  of  the^^/^.  Any  failure  in 
that  direction  would  have  been  fatal  to  the  beauty  of  vases 
which,  by  the  paucity  of  their  decoration,  seemed  to  chal- 
lenge inspection  of  their  unenamelled  surface.  Local  tradi- 
tion says  that  Kakiemon's  chaste  fashions  were  suggested  by 
the  success  he  had  already  achieved  in  the  manipulation  of 
the  izumi-yama  stone  that  he  curtailed  the  decorator’s  func- 
tions for  the  sake  of  increasing  the  scope  of  the’ potter’s.  At 
any  rate,  it  seems  pretty  certain  that,  even  so  early  as  the  year 
1650,  the  workmen  of  Arita  had  acquired  great  skill  in  the 
management  of  the  materials,  that  formed  the  porcelain  mass. 
The  processes  which  they  employed  remain  in  vogue  to- 
day. Before  describing  these  .processes,  it  is  necessary  to 
consider  briefly  the  various  kinds  of  porcelain  stone  found 
in  Hizen.  ' Information  upon  this  point  is  obtained  from 
• the  researches  of  Dr.  G.  Wagener,  to  .whom  the  modern 
art  industries  of  Japan  owe  a heavy  debt  of  gratitude,  and 
of  Professor  Wurtz.-  By  these  experts  eight  varieties  of 
Hizen  materials  have  been  analysed,  with  the  following 
results : — ■ ' ' • 


64 


I: 


4 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 


COMPOSITION  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  PORCELAIN  STONES 

OF  HIZEN 


Name  of  Material. 

Silica. 

Alumina. 

Lime,  Magnesia,  etc. 

Water. 

Tsuji-tsuchi  . 

. 78.18 

15.69 

2-39 

2.  52 

Shiro-tsuchi  . 

. 77.66 

15.19 

2.23 

3-33 

Sakaime-tsuchi  . 

. 78.07 

13-99 

3-13 

3-32 

Uwa-gusuri-tsuchi  . 

78.21 

14.41 

1.62 

3-71 

Indo-tsuchi  . 

82.23 

I 1.98 

3.91 

1. 15 

Kudaru-yama-tsuchi 

• 49-93 

38-73 

2.09 

7.60 

Seiji-tsuchi  . 

• 77-84 

i3-5« 

3-30 

1.29 

Shirakawa-tsuchi 

• 79->3 

16.44 

1.65 

0.91 

The  "Tsuji-tsuchi  is  a dull,  white,  coarse-grained,  and  cohe-  • 
rent  mass,  not  unlike  chalk,  but  harder  and  much  tougher. 

It  is  slightly  adhesive  ; is  composed  of  small  granules  which 
have  a distinct  but  dull  lustre,  and,  though  apparently 
homogeneous,  is  not  really  so.  In  its  pulverized  form  it 
fuses  easily,  but  in  the  mass  resists  a very  high  temperature. 

The  Shiro-tsuchi  is  finer,  tougher,  and  harder  than  the 
Tsuji-tsuchiy  which  in  other  respects  it  closely  resembles.  It 
contains  some  small,  dark-coloured  spots  which  under  the 
microscope  are  found  to  be  remnants  of  pyrite  crystals.  It 
appears  dull  to  the  naked  eye,  but  under  the  lens  the  granulae 
composing  it  are  found  to  have  a distinct  lustre,  almost  equal 
to  that  seen  on  the  surface  of  a porcelain  fracture.  It  is 
much  more  fusible  than  the  Tsuji-tsuchi, 

The  Sakaime-tsuchi  is  scarcely  distinguishable  from  the 
Shiro-tsuchiy  except  that  it  is  somewhat  softer  and  coarser. 

The  Uwa-gusuri-tsuchi  (which,  as  its  name  indicates,  is 
used  for  glazing  purposes)  resembles  the  preceding  varieties, 
but  is  much  softer,  more  adhesive,  and  has  many  dark  spots 
caused  by  the  presence  of  pyrites. 

The  Indo-tsuchi  is  coarse-grained,  and  of  uneven  colour ; 
some  parts  being  white,  while  others  are  darkened  by  the 
presence  of  limonite.  It  is  composed  of  soft  and  hard 
particles,  the  latter  resembling  undecomposed  felspar. 
When  heated  its  granulae  change  to  black  and  then  to  white, 
while  the  vapour  given  off  shows  acid  reaction,  probably 
due  to  the  presence  of  sulphuric  acid. 

VOL.  VIII. 5 5c 


JAPAN 

The  Kudaru-tsuchi  is  a pure  white  substance,  similar  to 
chalk.  It  is  friable  and  greasy  to  the  touch,  but  less  so  than 
a true  clay.  In  water  it  immediately  disintegrates  to  powder, 
giving  off  air  bubbles,  but  in  the  mass  it  has  very  little 
plasticity.  It  remains  white  after  heating. 

The  Seiji-tsuchi  has  a much  coarser  grain  than  any  of 
the  preceding  minerals,  and  a distinctly  laminated  struc- 
ture. Although  generally  white,  it  is  stained  in  places  by 
limonite. 

The  Shirakawa-tsuchi  has  a finer  grain  than  the  Seiji-tsuchiy 
but  coarser  than  any  of  the  other  varieties.  It  is  white, 
with  brownish  stripes  and  spots ; porous,  rough  to.  the 
touch,  and  friable  only  to  a small  degree. 

It  has  been  already  stated  that  Izumi-yama  furnishes  a 
stone  which,  from  the  time  of  its  discovery,  served  for  the 
manufacture  of  the  porcelain  mass  without  any  addition  of 
foreign  matter.  But  the  reader  will  see  from  the  above 
table  that  the  Arita  mineral  presents  varieties  which,  though 
differing  very  slightly  in  composition  — excepting,  of  course, 
the  Kudaru-yama-tsuchi  which  belongs  to  another  category  — 
are  nevertheless  sufficiently  unlike  to  suggest  that  something 
might  be  gained  by  intermixing  them.  The  Hizen  potters 
early  appreciated  this  possibility.  They  certainly  combined 
these  various  stones,  using  the  ^suji-tsuchi  and  the  Shiro-tsuchi 
as  the  principal  materials  of  the  porcelain  mass.  The 

former,  the  purest  and  whitest  of  all,  being  somewhat  intract- 
able in  the  kiln,  is  mixed  with  Shiro-tsuchiy  in  the  proportion 
of  7 to  3,  for  the  manufacture  of  egg-shell  ware.  The 
Shiro-tsuchi  and  Sakaime-tsuchi  are  accounted  of  equal  quality, 
and  are  mixed  in  varying  proportions,  equal  parts  being 
taken  to  form  the  mass  of  common  thick  Arita  porce- 
lain. The  Shirakawa-tsuchi  is  combined  with  Shiro-tsuchi 
or  Sakaime-tsuchi  to  produce  crackled  porcelain.  The 

Uwagusuri-tsuchi  is  used  for  glazing  purposes,  and  the  Seiji- 
tsuchi  is  similarly  used  in  the  manufacture  of  celadon  {Seiji), 

The  first  five  minerals  enumerated  in  the  above  table  are 
found  within  a comparatively  small  district  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Izumi-yama.  They  do  not  occur  in  strata,  but  are 
embedded  here  and  there,  and  covered  by  felspathic  rock. 

66 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

The  Kudaru-yama-tsuchi  is  found  in  various  places  between 
layers  of  hard  rock. 

The  first  process  to  which  the  stone  is  subjected  after 
quarrying  is  that  of  pulverisation.  The  implement  employed 
for  this  purpose  is  of  the  simplest  construction.  It  consists 
of  a horizontal  beam,  to  one  end  of  which  a vertical  stamp 
is  fixed,  to  the  other  a water-box.  This  contrivance  is  placed 
by  the  side  of  a stream,  whence  water  is  conducted  into  the 
box.  The  latter,  filling  and  emptying  itself,  lifts  and  drops 
the  stamp,  which  is  shod  with  iron  and  works  in  a stone 
mortar  containing  the  material  to  be  pulverised.  No  other 
machinery  is  employed  for  the  purpose,  and  the  consequence 
is  that  such  parts  of  the  mineral  as  cannot  be  sufficiently 
reduced  by  this  rude  method,  have  to  be  thrown  away.  These, 
rejected  portions  amount  to  as  much  as  40  or  50  per  cent 
of  the  mass.  Much  of  the  loss  is  doubtless  due  to  imper- 
fect mechanical  contrivances,  but  Mr.  Korschelt,  formerly 
Chemical  Analyst  to  the  Geological  Survey  of  Japan,  sug- 
gests that  the  minerals  themselves  are  not  homogeneous,  but 
consist  of  harder  and  softer  parts.  The  same  expert  draws 
attention  to  the  important  fact  that,  in  pulverising  the  Arita 
porcelain  stone,  a separation  of  its  materials  is  effected. 
Thus,  though  European  machinery  would  work  much  more 
economically  and  efficiently  than  the  Japanese  stamper, 
it  could  not  be  introduced  without  some  modification,  since 
it  would  transform  the  whole  stone  into  a homogeneous 
powder,  and  a porcelain  of  a different  composition,  contain- 
ing more  quartz,  would  be  obtained. 

The  pulverised  mineral  is  then  placed  in  a reservoir  of 
water,  where  it  is  allowed  to  settle.  The  most  subtile  par- 
ticles, which  naturally  constitute  the  uppermost  layer  of  the 
deposit,  are  used  for  the  pate  of  fine  porcelain  ; the  middle 
layer  is  reserved  for  the  manufacture  of  coarser  vessels,  and 
the  bottom  layer  is  thrown  away.  The  powder  obtained 
by  this  method  of  decanting  is  carefully  mixed,  and  afterwards 
transferred  to  pans  where  the  moisture  it  contains  is  partly 
drained  off  and  partly  absorbed  by  a layer  of  sand  covered 
with  straw  mats.  The  clay  is  finally  made  more  consistent 
by  putting  it  for  a time  on  the  warm  ovens.  It  is  then 


JAPAN 

ready  for  the  modellers.  These  are  provided  with  the  so- 
called  potter's  wheel.  At  Arita  it  consists  of  a driving  and 
a working  wheel,  fixed  about  twelve  to  fifteen  inches  apart  on 
a hollow  wooden  prism.  On  the  lower  side  of  the  driving- 
wheel  is  a porcelain  cup  that  rests  on  a vertical  wooden  pivot 
projecting  from  a round  block  of  wood  over  which  the 
system  is  placed.  The  pivot  is  planted  in  a hole  of  such 
depth  that  the  rim  of  the  driving-wheel  is  slightly  raised 
above  the  surface  of  the  ground.  Beside  this  hole  the 
modeller  sits,  and  while  turning  the  system  with  his  foot, 
moulds  a mass  of  material  placed  on  the  working-wheel. 
His  only  tools  are  a piece  of  wet  cloth  to  smooth  and 
moisten  the  vessel ; a small  knife  to  shape  sharp  edges ; a 
few  pieces  of  stick  to  take  measurements,  and  a fine  cord  to 
sever  the  finished  vase  from  its  base  of  superfluous  matter. 

The  pieces,  having  passed  from  the  modeller's  hands,  are 
air-dried,  after  which  they  are  again  placed  upon  the  wheel 
and  their  shapes  perfected  with  iron  tools.  They  are  then 
coated  with  the  white  clay  called  Kudaru-yama-tsuchiy  for  the 
double  purpose  of  imparting  to  the  finished  vase  a pure,  soft 
aspect,  and  providing  a ground  suited  to  the  blue,  intense  or 
delicate,  which  is  used  in  the  decoration.  The  piece  is  now 
placed  in  the  preparatory  kiln,  called  Suyaki-yama  (kiln  for 
unglazed  ware).  The  management  of  temperature  in  this 
kiln  is  a business  demanding  great  care,  the  object  being, 
not  to  bake  the  porcelain  thoroughly,  but  merely  to  prepare 
it  for  the  reception  of  the  decoration  and  the  glaze.  After 
cooling,  the  pieces  are  carefully  washed  and  passed  to  the 
decorator,  who  paints  upon  them  various  designs,  using  for 
pigment,  nowadays,  common  smalt,  whereas  formerly  he 
used  cobaltiferous  manganese  imported  from  China.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  difference,  from  an  artistic 
point  of  view,  between  the  colours  produced  by  the  two 
materials.  That  obtained  from  smalt  is  thin,  garish,  and 
superficial ; that  obtained  from  the  Chinese  mineral  is  deep, 
intense,  and  so  intimately  associated  with  the  pate  as  to  ap- 
pear inlaid.  Chemists  claim  that  to  provide  the  pigment  of 
former  times  is  easily  within  their  resources.  Nevertheless, 
great  interest  attaches  to  its  composition,  and  independent 

68 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

analyses  made  by  Dr.  Eykman,  lately  Professor  of  Chemis- 
try in  the  Tokyo  Medical  College,  Dr.  Matsui,  of  the 
Tokyo  University,  and  M.  Salvetat,  give  the  following 
results : — 

COMPOSITION  OF  CHINESE  COBALT  BLUE  FORMERLY  USED 

IN  JAPAN 


Eykman. 

Eykman. 

Matsui. 

Salvetat. 

Silica  .... 

. 14.90 

5-63 

4-97 

37.46 

Alumina  .... 

. 29.64 

19.90  1 

28.70 

4-75 

Iron  Oxide  . 

4.24 

3.28  J 

1.65 

Nickel  Oxide  . 

. 2.40 

5-97 

— 

Cobalt  Oxide  . 

• 9-75 

1 2.90 

19.05 

5.50 

Copper  Oxide  . 

. 1.25 

1.68 

— 

0.44 

Manganeous  Oxide  . 

• 34-91 

48.1 1 

45.24 

27.50 

Lime 

. 0.66 

0.22 

— 

0.60 

Magnesia 

. Trace 

Trace 

— 

Trace 

Potash  . •.  . . 

. 0. 1 1 

— 

— 

— 

Soda  .... 

. 1.02 

1.23 

— 

— 

Water  .... 

. 0.55 

0.95 

1.58 

20.00 

Chromium  . 

. Trace 

Trace 

Trace 

Trace 

With  regard  to  the  differences  between  the  results  of 
Salvetafs  analysis  and  those  obtained  by  Eykman  and  Mat- 
sui, Professor  Korschelt  observes  that  pieces  of  Gosu  — as 
this  cobalt  blue  is  called  by  the  Japanese  — which  were 
sent  to  Japan,  would  already  have  been  subjected  to  refining 
processes,  and  that  Salvetat  probably  examined  not  only  a 
somewhat  different  but  also  an  unrefined  form  of  the  min- 
eral. It  is  of  course  possible  that  the  gosu  of  old  times  may 
again  come  into  general  use,  and  that  the  grand  colours  of  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  may  once  more  be  pro- 
duced. But  against  this  much-to-be-desired  consummation 
has  to  be  set  the  refractory  nature  of  the  pigment.  Specially 
educated  skill  is  needed  to  obtain  good  results  with  it,  and 
even  in  the  most  expert  hands  failures  are  numerous.  Eu- 
ropean cobalt  labours  under  no  such  disadvantage,  and  for 
this  reason  will  probably  continue  to  be  preferred  in  these 
exceedingly  practical  times. 

When  applied  to  the  surface  of  the  porcelaine  degourdie^ 
smalt  and  Chinese  cobalt  alike  give  a muddy  black  col- 

69 


JAPAN 

our.  Their  blue  tints  are  developed  under  the  action  of  the 
furnace. 

The  decoration  in  blue  having  been  completed,  the  next 
process  is  to  apply  the  glazing  material.  This  consists  of 
the  Uwa-gusuri-tsuchi^  reduced  to  an  impalpable  powder, 
with  which,  to  increase  its  fusibility,  lixiviated  vegetable 
ashes  (obtained  from  the  bark  of  the  Distylicum  racemosum) 
are  mixed  in  proportions  varying  according  to  the  recipes 
of  different  potters.  In  former  days  no  pains  were  spared  in 
the  preparation  of  this  glazing  matter.  Weeks  were  some- 
times spent  in  treating  it,  and  in  special  cases  such  particles 
of  the  pulverised  mineral  as  had  passed  through  a three-ply 
strainer  of  fine  cotton-cloth  were  alone  employed.^ 

The  porcelain  is  now  ready  for  the  final  stoving.  The 
ovens  where  this  operation  is  performed  are  generally  placed 
on  the  slope  of  a hill,  in  rows  of  from  four  to  twenty.  They 
are  built  in  a very  simple  and  economical  manner.  The 
sill  is  first  prepared,  and  around  it  side-walls  are  raised  to 
a height  of  about  three  feet.  An  arched  roof  of  rude  timber 
is  then  superposed,  and  on  it  is  laid  a mixture  of  fire-proof 
clay,  cement,  and  tiles,  worked  into  a plastic  condition. 
This  mixture  is  pressed  and  pounded  with  heavy  mallets, 
until  it  acquires  sufficient  consistency  to  stand  without  the 
roof-frame.  The  interior  is  afterwards  beaten  with  small 
mallets  to  harden  and  smooth  it.  The  oven  is  then  com- 
plete. Should  repairs  be  required,  they  are  effected  by 
breaking  out  the  damaged  part,  applying  a frame  inside,  and 
filling  the  space  with  fire-proof  tiles.  As  these  repairs  are 
repeated,  the  oven  gradually  comes  to  consist  entirely  of 
fire-proof  tiles.  It  lasts  about  fifteen  years,  and  even  when 
of  the  largest  dimensions  costs  only  about  fifty  dollars.  It 
will  be  understood  that  the  oven  used  for  the  final  firing  is 
here  described.  That  used  for  the  unglazed  porcelain  is  of 
similar  construction  but  much  smaller.  Each  manufacturer 
has  his  own  Su-yaki-gama,  but  the  ovens  for  the  last  baking 
belong  to  the  community  and  are  hired  to  the  various  fac- 
tories as  required. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that,  despite  the  somewhat  primitive 
^ See  Appendix,  note  3. 


70 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

manufacturing  processes  of  the  Japanese  and  the  imperfec- 
tion of  their  business  methods,  they  can  sell  their  modern 
keramic  products  in  Europe  at  prices  considerably  below 
those  of  the  corresponding  European  articles.  Even  China 
can  scarcely  compete  with  Japan  in  this  respect,  although 
^he  conditions  of  production  are  approximately  the  same  in 
both  countries.  Total  neglect  of  all  complicated  appur- 
tenances, wonderful  simplicity  of  implements,  and  the  unique 
possession  of  a class  of  artist-artisans  who,  working  for 
wages  little  higher  than  those  of  a common  labourer,  exercise 
a degree  of  skill  that  would  command  large  remuneration 
elsewhere  — these  doubtless  are  the  circumstances  which  give 
Japan  a marked  advantage  in  competition  with  other  countries. 
As  yet  she  has  failed  to  avail  herself  of  her  opportunities. 
She  clings  to  her  old  custom  of  divided  effort.  Her  potters, 
instead  of  combining  for  the  wholesale  production  of  house- 
hold utensils,  are  content  to  work  at  miniature  kilns,  and  to 
contribute  each  his  tiny  quota  of  separate  labour  to  a need- 
lessly expensive  total.  As  a gifted  singer  will  sometimes 
forget  the  measure  of  the  music  to  dwell  upon  a note  of 
special  beauty,  so  it  may  be  said  of  the  Japanese  keramist 
that  the  exceptional  nature  of  his  productions  and  his  in- 
herited dexterity  prevent  him  from  appreciating  the  deficien- 
cies of  his  manufacturing  methods.  He  has  yet  to  be  led  out 
of  the  limited  sphere  of  his  own  experiences  into  the  wide 
field  of  keramics,  and  to  be  taught  that  in  these  busy  times 
art-genius  must  consent  to  walk  hand  in  hand  with  manu- 
facturing progress.  Nowhere,  perhaps,  is  there  more  room 
for  improvement  than  in  the  matter  of  ovens,  for  however 
good  in  principle  and  cheap  in  construction  the  Japanese  oven 
may  be,  it  gives  most  uncertain  results  in  practice.  The 
question  of  fuel,  too,  is  beginning  to  force  itself  upon  the 
manufacturer’s  attention.  The  hills  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Seto,  in  Owari,  are  completely  denuded  of  timber,  and  the 
cost  of  transporting  firewood  becomes  yearly  more  serious. 
The  recently  invented  gas-ovens  of  Europe  are  doubtless 
fitted  to  solve  this  dilemma,  and  it  is  probable  that  intelligent 
enterprise  to  utilise  these  or  other  reforms  will  not  long  be 
wanting  among  Japanese  keramists. 

71 


JAPAN 

It  may  be  remarked  here  that  a great  difference  existed  be- 
tween the  methods  of  the  Chinese  and  the  Japanese  potters 
of  past  times.  The  former  did  not  stove  their  porcelain  until 
after  they  had  applied  both  the  decoration  in  blue  and  the 
glaze.  Thus,  as  the  ‘‘History  of  Chinese  Keramics  **  shows, 
the  utmost  care  was  necessary  in  handling  a piece  before  put- 
ting it  into  the  oven  : any  undue  pressure  spoiled  its  shape. 
Moreover,  the  Chinese  plan  not  only  required  specially 
educated  skill  on  the  part  of  the  workman,  but  also  deprived 
him  of  the  assistance  which  he  might  have  derived  from  the 
natural  absorbent  properties  of  a porcelain  'pate  rendered 
porous  by  firing. 

The  analyses  which  have  hitherto  been  published  furnish 
data  for  a tolerably  accurate  comparison  of  the  porcelains  of 
Japan,  China,  and  Europe.  Ebelman  and  Salvetat,  in  their 
well-known  treatise  on  chemistry  and  physics,  arrive  at  the 
conclusion  that  no  material  technological  difference  exists  be- 
tween the  porcelains  of  China  and  those  of  Europe.  Later 
writers  regard  this  verdict  as  somewhat  premature.  The 
most  recent  researches  upon  this  subject  are  embodied  in  the 


following  table : — 

Japanese  Force-  Chinese  European 

LAIN  — Arita.  Porcelain.  Porcelain. 

Silica 75-0'^  75*93  72.02 

Alumina 18.31  15.86  18.84 

Lime,  Magnesia,  etc.  ...  3.78  5.91  6.00 


The  figures  for  Japanese  Arita  porcelain  are  the  average 
of  thirteen  analyses  of  porcelain  masses  recently  made  by 
M.  Korschelt.  The  composition  given  for  Chinese  porcelain 
is  that  determined  by  M.  Pabot.  It  agrees  very  closely 
with  the  researches  of  MM.  Salvetat  and  Ebelman,  as  inter- 
preted by  Liebig  and  Kopp.  Among  European  porcelains, 
ware  of  Germany,  analysed  by  M.  Muller,  is  taken.  The 
well-known  geologist,  M.  Giimbel,  has  recorded  his  opinion 
that  Izumi-yama  and  the  surrounding  district  of  Arita  are 
of  volcanic  character,  and  that  the  porcelain  stone  found 
there  closely  resembles  the  trachytic  clay  stones  of  Hungary  ; 
while  M.  Pabot  concludes  that  the  Chinese  porcelain  stones 
of  Ching-te-chen  belong  to  the  archaic  formation,  and  most 

72 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

nearly  approach  the  minerals  called  halleflint,  eurite,  and 
petrosilex.  With  regard  to  the  constituents  of  Arita  porce- 
lain, the  mean  of  fifteen  analyses  made  by  Korschelt,  Matsui, 
and  Wurtz  is  as  follows  : — 

Felspar.  Clay  Substance.  Quartz. 

20.64 31*23 46.66 

No  porcelain  of  similar  composition  is  to  be  found  among 
European  wares.  The  closest  approximation  is  shown  by 
German  porcelains,  the  composition  of  one  class  of  which  is 
felspar  20.3,  clay  substance  46.8,  and  quartz  31.8. 

Mr.  Korschelt  has  analysed  the  ashes  obtained  from  the 
bark  of  the  Distylicum  racemosum^  which,  as  has  been  said,  are 
mixed  with  the  glazing  material  of  Arita  porcelain.  The 
result  is  as  follows ; 


Lime 

38.27 

Sulphuric  acid  . 

1.27 

Magnesia  .... 

3.10 

Chlorine 

0.45 

Manganese  protoxide  . 

0.66 

Carbonic  acid  . 

. 26.85 

Iron  oxide  .... 

0.24 

Sand  .... 

. 2. 16 

Potash 

8.23 

Charcoal 

1*43 

Silica 

10.65 

Water  .... 

2.61 

Phosphoric  acid 

3.61 

100.33 

The  ashes,  therefore,” 

writes  M.  Korschelt, 

‘‘  consist 

61  per  cent  calcium  carbonate,  and  also  considerable  quanti- 
ties of  calcium,  potassium,  magnesium,  silicate,  and  phosphate. 
The  faint  greenish  colour  of  the  glaze  obtained  from  these 
ashes  is  remarkable  when  we  consider  that  they  contain  a 
small  quantity  of  manganese.’* 

The  quantity  of  fuel  consumed  and  the  degree  of  heat 
developed  in  the  ovens  at  Arita  are  points  still  demanding 
investigation.  The  practical  experience  of  the  workman  is 
his  guide,  and  he  can  only  say  that  the  process  of  baking 
occupies  from  four  to  five  days,  and  that  from  first  to  last 
each  article  of  porcelain  passes  through  seventy-two  hands. 

The  reader  will  perceive  that  the  decoration  described 
above  is  that  known  as  blue  under  the  glaze.  Blue 
thus  applied  enters  into  the  decoration  of  all  the  enamelled 
porcelain  produced  in  Hizen,  with  the  exception  of  certain 
wares  of  Kakiyemon  and  his  imitators.  As  a distinguishing 

73 


JAPAN 

feature  the  amateur  will  find  this  point  worthy  of  note. 
The  decoration  with  vitrifiable  enamels  was  a process  subse- 
quent to  the  stoving  of  the  glazed  piece,  and  was,  in  fact, 
added  to  a vase  which,  without  it,  would  have  been  a fin- 
ished specimen  of  blue-and-white.  To  vitrify  and  fix  the 
enamels  another  stoving  was  required.  At  Kakiyemon’s 
factory  the  bleu  sous  couverte  was  frequently  omitted,  but 
the  other  processes  were  identical  with  those  described 
above. 

The  colouring  oxides  of  the  Imari  potters  were  not  nu- 
merous. They  consisted  of  copper,  manganese,  antimony, 
red  oxide  of  iron,  impure  oxide  of  cobalt  (for  black),  and 
finally  gold,  which,  with  a small  admixture  of  white  lead  or 
borax,  served  for  gilding,  and,  added  to  powdered  glass,  was 
used  for  carmine.  The  enamels  did  not  undergo  any  pre- 
paratory melting,  but  were  mixed  and  applied  directly  by  the 
painter,  so  that  their  colours  appeared  only  after  firing.  The 
manner  of  painting  differs  much  from  that  of  European  ke- 
ramists.  First,  the  whole  pattern  is  drawn  in  black  outlines, 
and  the  shadows,  if  any,  are  merely  indicated  by  black  lines. 
The  coloured  enamels,  if  opaque,  as  red,  yellow,  and  black, 
are  laid  on  in  thin  layers,  but  are  applied  more  thickly  if, 
after  melting,  they  are  intended  to  produce  the  effect  of  a 
coloured  glass  through  which  the  black  lines  of  the  pattern 
are  to  be  visible.  Sometimes  designs  in  relief  are  produced 
by  first  applying  white  opaque  enamel  which  contains  no 
oxide  of  tin,  but  is  only  a mixture  of  glass,  white  lead,  and 
pulverised  stone,  and  then  painting  the  pattern  upon  this. 
Mr.  Atkinson  has  analysed  ten  substances  used  in  preparing 
colours  for  the  decoration  of  Japanese  porcelain.  From 
these  analyses  Mr.  Korschelt  concludes  that  the  substances 
are  quartz  {Hino-oka-seki) ; oxide  of  iron  (Beni-gard)  ; car- 
bonate of  lead  (To-no-tsuchi)\  {Shiratama) ; lead- 

glass  coloured  dark-blue  with  copper  {Koise) ; lead-glass 
coloured  light-blue  with  copper  (Usu-se)\  smalt  {Kongo); 
lead-glass  coloured  violet  with  manganese  {Murasaki);  ul- 
tramarine {‘To-kongo);  and  metallic  antimony  {T^oshirome), 

According  to  the  traditions  of  the  Arita  potters,  seggars 
were  not  used  in  the  early  years  of  the  factory’s  existence. 

74 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

The  pieces  were  piled  up  in  the  ordinary  manner  within  the 
kiln,  being  thus  exposed  to  the  direct  action  of  the  fire.  The 
advisability  of  enclosin^choice  ware  in  a sheath  of  some  sort 
is  said  to  have  been  discovered  by  accident.  Some  small 
vessels  having  fallen,  after  the  kiln  was  closed,  into  a pot  near 
which  they  had  been  placed,  were  inadvertently  stoved  in 
that  position.  On  emerging  from  the  oven  these  pieces 
were  found  to  have  profited  so  much  by  the  protection  they 
had  obtained  that  the  idea  of  using  seggars  was  at  once  con- 
ceived. This  event  is  referred  to  the  closing  years  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  The  seggars  served  only  once;  they 
were  broken  to  remove  the  pieces  they  contained.  Only  the 
choicest  wares  were  protected  by  seggars,  and  consequently 
received  the  distinguishing  title  of  Goku-hin-yaki  (superlative 
ware). 

Sakaida  Kakiemon’s  success  gained  for  him  no  little 
reputation.  It  is  said  that  he  had  the  rare  honour  of 
a personal  interview  with  one  of  the  great  feudal 
chiefs  of  the  time,  Maeda  Toshiharu,  Lord  of  Kaga. 
This  would  apparently  indicate  that  Kakiemon  visited 
Kaga,  — a circumstance  of  obvious  interest  in  connec- 
tion with  the  development  of  the  Kutani  (or  Kaga) 
potteries. 

In  the  annals  of  Nagasaki  it  is  recorded  that  a 
bazaar  for  the  sale  of  Hizen  porcelain  was  opened  in 
that  town  in  1662.  This  may  probably  be  taken  as 
the  date  of  the  first  export  of  Japanese  porcelain, 
though  local  tradition  refers  the  event  to  the  time  of 
Sakaida  Kakiemon’s  son  and  successor,  a few  years 
later.  Both  the  Chinese  and  the  Dutch  traders  are 
said  to  have  been  ready  purchasers  of  the  new  ware. 
There  is  no  record  of  the  prices  paid,  but  they  were 
probably  very  small.  A story  told  at  Arita  to-day 
illustrates  the  simple  manners  of  the  potters  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  A hawker  of  quack  medicines, 

75 


JAPAN 

passing  through  the  Arita  district,  saw  a quantity  of 
newly  baked  porcelains  stacked  outside  a house.  Not 
supposing  that  articles  of  any  great  value  would  be 
thus  carelessly  treated,  he  proposed  to  the  master  of 
the  house  an  exchange  of  a modicum  of  medicine 
against  one  or  two  pieces  of  porcelain.  The  master 
assented,  but  to  the  hawker’s  surprise  bade  him  take 
as  much  of  the  ware  as  he  could  carry.  The  people 
of  Arita  supplement  this  tale  by  a regretful  contrast 
between  the  generous  artist  of  those  times  and  the 
haggling  trader  of  the  present  degenerate  age. 

The  specimens  of  Arita  ware  that  found  their  way 
to  the  factory  of  the  Dutch  in  Deshima  did  not  fail 
to  attract  attention.  These  shrewd  traders  were  very 
ready  to  add  another  item  to  their  list  of  exports,  but 
they  had  their  own  ideas  as  to  the  sort  of  wares  cal- 
culated to  attract  European  fancy.  Kakiemon’s  pieces 
did  not  satisfy  them.  Something  more  likely  to 
appeal  to  vulgar  taste  was  required.  One  need  only 
consider  the  state  of  keramics  in  Holland  at  that 
epoch  to  comprehend  how  improbable  it  was  that  the 
traders  of  Deshima  would  appreciate  the  chaste  style 
of  Kakiemon  or  the  motives  of  his  refined  art.  Dur- 
ing the  first  fifty  years  (1610-1660)  of  the  industry 
in  Holland,  the  potters  of  Delft  imposed  no  restraint 
upon  the  intemperance  of  their  imagination.  Their 
ideal  of  a choice  vase  was  one  loaded  with  ornamen- 
tation, crowded  with  figures,  and  distinguished  chiefly 
by  evidences  of  minute  effort.  It  was  during  this 
period  that  Tomes  Janz  produced  his  "Jugement  dernier ^ 
a plaque  encumbered  with  four  hundred  personages  ; 
Adriaan  Van  de  Venne  his  Pecheurs  d antes ^ where  one 
sees  a mob  of  thousands  of  tiny  beings  swarming  beside 
a river  ; and  Herman  Pietersz  his  Choc  de  cavaleriey  in 

76 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

which  a mHee  of  two  squadrons  takes  place  within  the 
limits  of  a dish.  People  educated  in  a school  of  such 
unnatural  art  would  not  be  at  all  likely  to  pay  profit- 
able prices  for  porcelain  decorated  after  the  fashions 
of  Kakiemon.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Dutch 
merchants  at  Deshima  foresaw  rich  possibilities  in  the 
porcelain  trade  if  ware  suited  to  European  markets 
could  be  manufactured.  It  happened  that  the  factory 
in  Deshima  was  then  under  the  charge  of  a Dutch- 
man who  possessed  a fertile  fancy  and  some  know- 
ledge of  designing.  Jacquemart,  quoting  from  Les 
Ambassades  Memorables,  thus  describes  the  influence 
exercised  by  this  man  upon  the  porcelain  of  Japan: 
“ Pendant  que  le  sieur  Wagenaar  se  disposait  a 
retourner  a Batavia,  il  re9ut  21,567  pieces  de  porce- 
laine  blanche,  et  un  mois  auparavant  il  en  etait  venu 
a Deshima  une  tres-grande  quantite,  mais  dont  le 
debit  ne  fut  pas  grand,  n’ayant  pas  assez  de  fleurs. 
Depuis  quelques  annees  les  Japonais  se  sont  appliques 
a ces  sortes  d’ouvrages  avec  beaucoup  d’assiduite.  Ils 
y deviennent  si  habiles  que  non  seulement  les  Hol- 
landais,  mais  les  Chinois  memes  en  achetent.  . . . Le 
sieur  Wagenaar,  grand  connaisseur  et  fort  habile  dans 
ces  sortes  d’ouvrages,  inventa  une  fleur  sur  un  fond 
bleu  qui  fut  trouvee  si  belle  que  de  deux  cents  pieces 
ou  il  la  fit  peindre,  il  n'en  resta  pas  une  seule  qui  ne 
fut  aussitot  vendue,  de  sorte  qu’il  n’y  avait  point  de 
boutique  qui  n’en  fut  garnie.” 

Especially  interesting  as  one  of  the  very  few  trust- 
worthy allusions  to  Japanese  porcelain  to  be  found  in 
European  records,  this  extract  is  noteworthy,  in  the 
first  place,  because  it  confirms  the  dates  obtained  by 
independent  research  into  Japanese  annals.  For  the 
Ambassades  Memorables  here  speak  of  the  porcelain 

77 


JAPAN 

industry  as  having  been  practised  for  some  years  only 
before  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  It  had, 
in  fact,  been  practised  for  not  more  than  fifty  years, 
while  the  enamelled  ware  which  became  a staple  of 
the  Dutch  export  trade  had  first  been  produced  at 
Arita  some  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  before  “ le  sieur 
Wagenaar”  conceived  the  idea  of  meddling  with  its 
decoration. 

A theory  recently  advanced  by  English  writers  is 
not  only  that  the  celebrated  “ Hawthorn  pattern  ’’ 
was  invented  in  Japan,  but  that  many  fine  specimens 
of  ware  thus  decorated  were  exported  by  the  Dutch 
during  the  seventeenth  century.  Messrs.  Audsley  and 
Bowes  suggest  that  the  ‘‘  fleur  sur  un  fond  bleu,’’ 
attributed  to  Wagenaar,  was  no  other  than  the  “ Haw- 
thorn.” It  has  already  been  stated  that  this  pattern 
is  found  on  pieces  manufactured  by  Gorodayu  Go- 
shonzui,  nearly  a century  and  a half  before  Wagenaar’s 
time,  and  it  may  now  be  added  that  the  ‘‘  Hawthorn” 
— known  in  Japan  as  Korimme  — was  seldom  if  ever 
employed  by  Japanese  decorators  as  a principal  subject. 
They  used  it,  not  infrequently,  as  a subordinate  design  ; 
and  with  the  conception  of  a white  pattern  on  a blue 
ground  they  have  been  familiar  for  more  than  three 
hundred  and  fifty  years.  But  the  “ Hawthorns  ” of 
American  and  European  collections  are  essentially 
Chinese.  Nothing  that  could  be  mistaken  for  them 
was  formerly  manufactured  in  Japan. 

As  for  Wagenaar’s  ‘‘  fleur  sur  un  fond  bleu,”  it  may 
reasonably  be  interpreted  by  the  light  of  what  Japan- 
ese tradition  tells  about  the  early  fashions  of  decoration 
at  Arita.  Kakiemon’s  pieces  were  of  milk-white 
porcelain,  generally  with  scanty  designs  in  vitrifiable 
enamels  only.  Wagenaar’s  order  to  the  potters  was 

78 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

that  they  should  add  enamel  decoration  over  the  glaze 
to  pieces  already  decorated  with  blue  under  the  glaze. 
There  thus  came  into  existence  the  familiar  Imari- 
yaki;  the  ‘‘Old  Japan”  of  Western  amateurs;  the 
ISlishiki-de  or  “Brocade  Pattern”  of  the  Japanese 
themselves.  It  was  a brilliant  ware,  depending  chiefly 
upon  wealth  of  decoration  and  richness  of  colouring. 
The  pate  was  good,  but  the  glaze  seemed  to  lose 
something  of  its  softness  and  purity  by  the  second 
firing  which  it  had  to  undergo  for  the  sake  of  the 
enamels.  Frequently  the  bleu  sous  couverte  also  suf- 
fered by  the  same  process.  Assuming  the  quality  of 
the  pigment  to  be  good,  blue  under  the  glaze  depends 
for  intensity  and  purity  of  tone  principally  upon  the 
temperature  of  the  furnace.  Now  nothing  is  rarer  in 
enamelled  Imari  porcelain  than  a good  blue,  and 
nothing  is  commoner  than  a specimen  in  which  the 
decoration  over  the  glaze  gives  evidence  of  great  care 
and  skill,  while  the  blue  designs  under  the  glaze  are 
blurred  or  of  impure  tone.  But  the  enamels  were 
not  applied  until  after  a piece  was  finished  so  far  as 
concerned  the  glaze  and  the  designs  under  it,  and  it 
seems  therefore  a reasonable  conclusion  that,  in  spec- 
imens with  elaborate  enamel  decoration,  any  imper- 
fections shown  by  the  blue  under  the  glaze  were  the 
result  of  processes  subsequent  to  the  application  of  the 
enamels.  The  conscientious,  labour-loving  potter  of 
old  times  would  not  have  been  likely  to  continue  the 
decoration  of  a vase  which  had  already  ceased  to  be  a 
, complete  success.  In  China,  where,  owing  to  the 
peculiar  process  of  applying  glazes,  the  difficulty  of 
preserving  a piece  from  accidents  until  it  emerged 
from  the  furnace  was  considerably  increased,  risks  of 
injuring  the  colour  by  a second  firing  were  as  far  as 

79 


JAPAN 

possible  ayoided.  On  the  surface  of  his  blacks,  soujPe 
blues  and  reds,  the  Chinaman  often  preferred  to  su- 
perpose a partially  fixed  tracery  of  gold,  which  could 
not  hope  to  escape  speedy  obliteration  by  use,  rather 
than  to  subject  the  vase  to  new  perils  by  re-stoving. 
And  as  in  Japan,  so  also  in  the  Middle  Kingdom, 
when  enamel  decoration  is  added  to  bleu  sous  couverte^ 
the  tone  of  the  latter  can  seldom  compare  in  purity 
and  brilliancy  with  the  blue  of  pieces  which  have  not 
passed  twice  through  the  furnace. 

It  is  almost  certain  that  the  ‘‘  flower  ” spoken  of 
in  the  'Ambassades  Memorables  as  Wagenaar's  invention, 
may  be  interpreted  in  the  sense  of  floral  decoration. 
Probably  the  Dutch  agent  suggested  redistributions 
or  modifications  of  Japanese  designs,  but  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  he  originated  anything  worthy  of 
preservation.  Among  the  really  good  specimens  of 
‘‘  Old  Japan  ” preserved  in  the  great  collections 
of  Europe,  there  are  few  examples  of  styles  which 
may  not  be  found  upon  Japanese  lacquers  or  brocades 
dating  from  a period  long  antecedent  to  the  establish- 
ment of  the  factory  in  Deshima.  By  the  Japanese 
themselves  it  is  universally  believed  that  the  most 
favourite  design  of  the  Arita  potters,  during  the  first 
fifty  or  sixty  years  of  the  ‘‘Ornate  Period’'  (1655- 
1710),  was  the  Hana-kago-de y or  Flower-basket  Pat- 
tern. This,  as  the  term  suggests,  is  a basket  or  jar 
supporting  a profusion  of  tastefully  grouped  flowers, 
generally  peonies,  but  sometimes  alao  chrysanthe- 
mums, and  sometimes  a mixture  of  both.  The  Hana- 
kago-de  was  capable  of  almost  infinite  modification, 
and  could  be  so  arranged  as  to  occupy  a space  of 
almost  any  shape.  On  the  bottoms  of  plates  and 
bowls,  in  the  panels  of  vases,  and  medallions,  and,  in 

80 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

short,  everywhere,  it  is  employed  with  charming  effect. 
But  it  is  not  a Japanese  conception.  There  is  a paint- 
ing by  a Chinese  artist  of  the  early  Ming  period  {circa 
1400),  in  which  a girl  is  represented  carrying  in  her 
hand  a basket  of  peonies  which  might  have  been  the 
original  of  at  least  half  of  the  Japanese  Hana-uago 
designs.  In  truth,  so  soon  as  the  potters  of  Arita  set 
themselves  to  produce  highly  decorated  porcelains, 
they  found  a wealth  of  designs  already  elaborated  and 
classified  by  the  weavers,  lacquer-makers,  embroiderers, 
and  metal-workers  of  their  country.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  the  artists  of  any  nation  ever  carried  the  dec- 
orative art  farther  than  the  Japanese  have  carried  it. 
In  diapers  alone  they  have  devised  some  four  hundred, 
each  bearing  a name  by  which  it  is  immediately  known 
among  native  experts.  The  Dutch,  in  1660,  had 
only  to  say  that  they  wished  for  pieces  highly  orna- 
mented. There  was  no  need  to  supply  designs.  The 
potters  simply  took  as  a model  the  brilliant  and  in- 
numerable combinations  of  diapers,  scrolls,  floral  sub- 
jects, and  mythical  conceits  painted  on  the  lacquers 
or  woven  in  the  brocades  of  their  country.  The  new 
ware  naturally  received  the  name  Nishiki-de  (brocade 
pattern).  Figure  subjects  were  very  rarely  chosen. 
The  Japanese  artist  has  never  appreciated  the  contours 
of  the  human  figure ; and  that  for  a very  simple 
reason.  From  the  oldest  times,  to  expose  any  part 
of  the  person,  except  the  face  and  hands,  has  always 
been  deemed  in  Japan  a gross  breach  of  etiquette. 
The  aristocrat  loved  to  cover  his  body  with  deftly 
folded  garments  of  rich  stuffs,  and  to  move  amid  the 
graceful  sweep  of  flowing  drapery.  Studies  from  the 
nude  would  have  shocked  the  sense,  not  of  decency, 
but  of  refinement.  When  the  Japanese  artist  sets 

VOL.  VIII.  6 3 I 


JAPAN 

himself  to  depict  figure  subjects,  he  pursues  one  of 
three  aims  : a delineation  of  cleverly  disposed  drapery  ; 
a suggestion  of  the  music  of  motion,  as  seen  in  the 
“ woven  paces  and  waving  hands’’  of  the  Kagura  and 
No  dances:  or  a portrait  of  features  convulsed  by  pas- 
sion or  sentiment.  With  such  pigments  as  vitrifiable 
enamels  these  effects  could  scarcely  be  produced. 
Therefore  they  were  seldom  attempted.  Sometimes 
copies  were  made  of  the  stiff,  puppet-like  Mandarins, 
warriors,  and  ladies  in  which  the  Chinese  keramist 
delighted.  But  these,  too,  are  happily  rare.  In  a 
word,  if  to  floral  subjects,  scrolls,  and  diapers  are  added 
the  mythical  phoenix  [Dragon),  unicorn  [Kirin),  and 
lion  [Shis hi),  landscapes  in  medallions  or  panels,  and 
figures  of  women  in  sweeping  robes  or  of  warriors 
in  brightly  pointed  armour,  a complete  catalogue  is 
obtained  of  subjects  from  which  the  Arita  potter 
made  his  choice.  The  dominant  colours  of  his  pieces 
in  those  early  days  were  blue  and  red  ; the  former 
under  the  glaze,  the  latter  over  it.  The  quality  of 
the  red  in  all  specimens  of  good  Imari  ware  deserves 
careful  attention.  The  rich,  soft  colour  of  the  ancient 
keramists  is  no  longer  present,  except  in  special  cases : 
the  common  red  of  modern  potters  can  be  compared 
to  nothing  but  sealing-wax.  Gold  was  used  in  some 
profusion  during  the  early  period,  and,  indeed,  has 
always  been  used.  Gold  scrolls  on  a blue  ground, 
phoenixes  with  gilded  feathers,  flowers  with  gilt  petals, 
and  leaves^  with  gilt  veins  are  commonly  found. 

The  result  of  all  these  modifications  was  eminently 
satisfactory  to  the  Dutch.  They  exported  large  quan- 
tities of  the  brilliant  ware.  In  1664  no  less  than 
“44,943  pieces  of  very  rare  Japanese  porcelain  ” 
arrived  in  Holland,  and  in  December  of  the  same 

82 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

year  there  were  shipped  from  Batavia  16,580  speci- 
mens of  porcelain  of  various  kinds  collected  by  the 
Netherlands  Company.  But  that  all  these  specimens 
were  made  in  Japan  is  most  improbable.  At  only 
one  factory  in  Hizen  was  enamelled  porcelain  pro- 
duced in  the  early  years.  The  supply  was,  therefore, 
limited,  and  even  if  the  workmen  had  occupied  them- 
selves in  executing  Dutch  commissions  alone  they 
could  not  have  turned  out  such  large  quantities.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  a Japanese  porcelain-factory 
does  not  signify  a large  establishment  employing  many 
scores  of  workmen,  but  rather  a sort  of  household  in- 
dustry, of  which  the  most  skilled  processes  are  carried 
on  by  the  members  of  the  family.  Especially  is  this 
true  of  the  Arita  factory  where  Tokuemon  and  Ka- 
kiemon  worked.  Not  in  their  own  interests  alone, 
but  also  in  obedience  to  the  imperative  commands  of 
their  feudal  chief,  they  were  careful  to  throw  a thick 
veil  of  secrecy  over  the  methods  of  enamel  decoration 
which  they  had  discovered,  and  it  is  certain  that  the 
practice  of  those  methods  was  confined  to  the  smallest 
possible  number  of  persons.  Among  the  wares  ex- 
ported by  the  Dutch,  those  of  Chinese  manufacture 
doubtless  predominated,  and  to  this  commixture  is 
probably  attributable  much  of  the  subsequent  perplex- 
ity of  European  amateurs.  Further,  of  the  pieces 
actually  procured  by  the  Dutch  in  Japan,  some  bear 
strong  witness  to  mischievous  foreign  interference. 
Then,  as  now,  Japanese  artisans  were  quite  willing  to 
humour  the  vitiated  suggestions  of  European  taste.  In 
the  Royal  Keramic  Collection  at  Dresden  there*^  is  a 
large  triple-gourd-shaped  vase,  figured  in  Messrs.  Aud- 
tley  and  Bowes’  ‘‘  Keramic  Art  in  Japan.”  Judged  by 
the  canons  of  Japanese  art  proper,  this  piece  is  exe- 

83 


JAPAN 

crable.  A triple  gourd  is  in  itself  a monstrosity.  A 
Japanese  modeller,  of  his  own  motion,  would  be  about 
as  likely  to  choose  such  a shape  as  a European  painter 
to  put  the  conventional  triple-hat  of  a Jew  upon  the 
head  of  a Grecian  hero.  The  decoration  of  the  vase  is 
even  more  offensive.  On  the  lowest  globe  peonies  and 
sweet  flags  (Kaki-tusbata)  grow  vertically  upward  with 
mathematical  precision  and  at  regular  intervals,  while 
from  the  stems  and  roots  of  the  peonies  spring  leaves 
of  the  sweet  flag.  On  the  second  globe  chrysanthe- 
mums and  sweet  flags  grow  spirally  from  the  same 
stem.  On  the  third  and  uppermost  globe  a branch 
of  red  plum  grows  vertically  downward.  In  the  same 
collection  are  several  large  covered  jars,  which,  though 
their  decoration  does  not  offend  and  their  general 
effect  is  very  striking,  were  nevertheless  designed  alto- 
gether for  the  European  market.  In  Japan  such  jars  are 
only  used  to  ornament  drug  and  oil  stores.  To  put 
them  in  the  alcove  of  a Japanese  gentleman’s  private 
dwelling  would  be  equivalent  to  taking  the  blue  glass 
bottles  from  an  apothecary’s  window  and  placing  them 
on  a drawing-room  table  in  America  or  Europe. 
There  is,  of  course,  no  reason  why  an  Occidental 
should  not  adorn  his  parlour  with  the  utensils  of  an 
Oriental  shop.  But  the  point  is  that  in  the  Dresden 
collection  these  jars  are  decorated  en  suite  with  flower- 
vases,  a combination  which  would  never  have  been 
made  for  Japanese  use.  The  lesson  to  be  deduced 
from  these  facts  is  that  even  from  specimens  of  Japan- 
ese porcelain  carried  to  Europe  by  the  Dutch  traders 
of  Deshima  in  the  seventeenth  century  very  false 
notions  of  Japanese  keramic  art  may  be  acquired. 

Most  curious  were  the  interactions  of  the  keramic 
arts  of  Holland  and  Japan.  In  the  middle  of  the 

84 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

seventeenth  century,  when  Arita  enamelled  porcelains 
began  to  be  exported  from  Deshima,  the  genius  of 
Aelbregt  de  Keizer  was  inaugurating  a new  era  at  the 
Delft  factories.  He  no  sooner  saw  the  imported 
wares  than  he  appreciated  their  beauties  and  set  him- 
self to  imitate  them.  Here  is  what  Henry  Havard 
writes  on  this  subject:  ‘‘Aelbregt  de  Keizer,  dans  un 
temps  ou  la  porcelaine  du  Japon  constituait  une  nou- 
veaute  des  plus  couteuses,  eut  Tidee  de  la  contrefaire. 
II  s’y  appliqua  et  y parvint  au  point  que  ‘ ceux-la 
memes,’  nous  dit  Gerrit  Paape,  ‘qui  pouvaient  a bon 
droit  se  vanter  d’avoir  les  premiers  introduit  la  porce- 
laine des  Indes  orientals  dans  leurs  provinces,  s’eton- 
naient  de  la  beaute  de  Timitation,  et,  quoique  en 
possession  des  plus  magnifiques  pieces  originales, 
n'hesitaient  pas  tant  il  les  estimaient,  a acquerir  des 
copies.’  Cette  contrefafon  est  en  effet  de  tout  point 
admirable.  Cherchez,  dans  les  grandes  collections, 
ces  fines  assiettes,  ces  tasses  delicates  et  legeres,  de- 
corees  en  camiaeu  bleu,  ou  encore  ces  delicieuses  sou- 
coupes  a fond  ‘ persille.’  Meme  la  piece  en  main, 
rillusion  est  complete  ; il  faute  une  felure,  un  eclat, 
quelque  menue  accident,  ou  bien  encore  la  marque, 
pour  qu’on  soit  certain  den’avoir  point  sous  les  yeux 
une  oeuvre  japonaise.  Cette  marque,  sera  contrefaite 
. . . Mais  ce  qu’on  ne  pourra  contrefaire,  c’est  la 
legerete  de  ces  pieces  charmantes,  leur  delicatesse, 
leur  finesse,  et  surtout  Tadmirable  elegance  de  leur 
ornementation.”  It  is  necessary  to  make  large  allow- 
ance for  the  enthusiasm  of  this  writer.  That  the 
faience  of  Delft  could  be  mistaken  for  Japanese  por- 
celain, whatever  the  nature  of  the  decoration,  is  incred- 
ible. Certain  it  is,  however,  that  the  greatest  Delft 
keramist  of  the  seventeenth  century  took  Japanese 

85 


JAPAN 

porcelain  for  his  model,  and  that  he  was  followed  by 
Adriaen  Pynacker  and  other  artists,  of  whose  copies 
of  the  Blue-red-and-gold  “Old  Japan”  it  is  related 
that  “their  lightness  was  astonishing,  their  eclat  sur- 
prising, and  that  in  fidelity  of  imitation  they  were 
even  better  calculated  to  deceive  the  amateur  than 
the  works  of  Aelbregt  de  Keizer.”  Meanwhile 
Wagenaar,  the  head  of  the  Dutch  factory  at  Deshima, 
and  his  successors  were  impressing  their  own  ideas 
of  European  taste  upon  the  potters  of  Arita;  and 
these  latter,  obedient  to  the  whims  of  their  largest 
customer,  were  manufacturing  for  export  pieces  which 
Japanese  connoisseurs  would  have  rejected  with  dis- 
dain. Then,  as  years  went  by,  the  shrewd  traders  of 
Deshima,  beginning  to  understand  the  chaste  taste  of 
the  Japanese  generally  and  the  archaic  fancies  of  the 
tea-clubs  in  particular,  imported  specimens  of  Delft 
faience  worthy  to  vie  with  the  most  rustic,  homely 
ware  of  the  Seto  and  Karatsu  factories.  Whether 
these  specimens  were  specially  manufactured  for  the 
Japanese  market,  or  whether  they  were  merely  chosen 
from  among  the  coarsest  productions  of  the  Delft 
workshops,  their  novelty  and  unpretending  character 
endeared  them  at  once  to  the  devotees  of  the  Cha-no~ 
Tu,  and  a new  but  limited  field  of  profit  was  opened 
to  the  Dutchmen  in  Deshima.  Finally,  nearly  a 
hundred  years  later,  the  potters  of  Kyoto,  as  will  be 
shown  by  and  by,  undertook  to  imitate  the  faience  of 
Delft,  and  delighted  to  copy  pieces  as  far  as  possible 
removed  from  the  fashions  of  their  own  art. 

It  may  be  added  here,  that  of  the  porcelain  trade 
between  the  Dutch  and  the  Japanese  subsequent  to  the 
seventeenth  century  few  records  are  known  to  exist. 
Kaempfer  says  that  during  the  latter  half  of  that  century 

86 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

the  annual  exports  from  Deshima  comprised  about  one 
hundred  bales  of  such  ware,  and  it  is  known  that  the 
Dresden  collection  was  put  together  by  August  II. 
between  the  years  1698  and  1724.  On  the  whole, 
it  may  be  concluded  that  small  and  probably  di- 
minishing quantities  of  Japan’s  keramic  productions 
continued  to  be  shipped  to  Europe  until  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  by  which  time  the  manu- 
factures of  the  European  potteries  had  become  so 
cheap,  so  plentiful,  and  so  excellent  that  the  pre- 
eminence of  specimens  from  the  Far  East  was  rudely 
challenged.  With  regard  to  the  possibility  of  Japan’s 
porcelain  having  found  its  way  to  Eastern  countries  in 
the  early  years  of  its  manufacture,  it  appears  from  the 
evidence  of  a terrestrial  globe  constructed  in  1670 
and  preserved  in  the  Tokyo  Museum,  that  Japan  had 
commercial  relations  with  the  Philippines,  Cambodia, 
Tonquin,  Annam,  Siam,  and  various  parts  of  China, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Among 
her  exports  to  Cochin  China  and  Tonquin  keramic 
wares  are  mentioned,  and  it  is  on  record  that  her 
ships  trading  with  China  carried  back  considerable 
quantities  of  Chinese  porcelain  and  faience. 

By  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  num- 
ber of  factories  had  increased  to  twenty,  all  situated 
within  a radius  of  a few  miles.  A book  (the  Sankai- 
meisan-dzuye)  published  in  1799  tells  that  even  at 
that  date  the  processes  of  enamel  decoration  were 
practised  at  one  only  (Akaye-machi)  of  these  fac- 
tories. Meanwhile  the  art  had  made  much  progress. 
Greater  skill  had  been  developed  in  the  preparation 
of  the  pdt6y  but,  above  all,  in  the  use  of  vitrifiable 
enamels.  During  the  first  half-century  of  the  manu- 
facture the  decorator’s  palette  was  limited,  with  per- 

87 


JAPAN 

haps  some  very  rare  exceptions,  to  blue,  red,  green, 
and  gold,  the  blue  being  applied  chiefly  under  the 
glaze.  By  and  by,  however,  he  added  to  his  enamels 
lilac-blue  (over  the  glaze),  russet-brown,  purple,  black, 
and  lemon-yellow,  the  last  three  being  reserved  for 
his  choicest  pieces.  The  eighteenth  century  may, 
indeed,  be  regarded  as  the  most  flourishing  period  of 
the  Hizen  factories.  The  country  had  then  enjoyed 
a long  spell  of  peace.  The  castles  built  by  Hideyoshi 
in  Fushimi  and  Osaka  and  by  lyeyasu  in  Yedo 
(Tokyo),  with  their  huge  moats  and  towering  para- 
pets, were  the  forerunners  of  a number  of  similar 
edifices,  in  which  elaborate  gate-defences,  mighty 
keeps,  turret-crowned  curtain  walls,  moats  of  extraor- 
dinary size,  and  drawbridges  were  substituted  for  the 
low  wooden  buildings,  enclosed  by  small  trenches 
and  wattled  fences,  which  had  served  as  fortresses  be- 
fore the  advent  of  the  Portuguese  and  the  Dutch.  In 
these  huge  structures,  upon  which  gold  and  labour 
were  lavished  without  stint,  it  was  natural  that  the 
character  of  the  apartments  reserved  for  the  noble 
owner  should  partake  of  the  general  magnificence  of 
the  whole.  The  artist  found  an  extended  field  of 
employment  in  the  painting  of  panels,  screens,  and 
sliding  doors ; the  lacquerer,  in  the  decoration  of 
framework  and  ceilings.  Never  before  had  art  pat- 
ronage been  so  universal  or  so  munificent.  Not  only 
to  each  other,  but  also  to  the  Court  of  the  Toku- 
gawa  Sffoguns  in  Yedo,  the  feudal  chiefs  sent  fre- 
quent presents  of  the  art  manufactures  of  their  fiefs, 
and  so  far  was  the  enthusiasm  carried  that  it  became 
the  fashion  for  every  young  lady  of  rank  or  wealth 
to  have  among  her  trousseau  a painting  by  one  of  the 
old  Chinese  masters.  The  keramic  industry  bene- 

88 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

fited,  of  course,  by  all  this.  Exquisite  specimens  of 
enamelled  ware  were  produced  at  the  Arita  factories, 
but  the  workmen  generally  adhered  to  a custom 
handed  down  from  the  days  of  Tokuemon  and  Kakie- 
mon,  — instead  of  marking  their  vases  with  their 
own  names  or  those  of  the  year  periods,  they  either 
copied  Chinese  seals  and  dates,  or  used  a conven- 
tional ideograph  or  group  of  ideographs,  quite  use- 
less for  purposes  of  identification.  The  amateur  is, 
therefore,  without  any  easy  guide  to  determine  the 
age  or  maker  of  a piece.  He  must  look  only  to  the 
quality  of  the  pate,  the  brilliancy  of  the  enamels,  and 
the  purity  and  intensity  of  the  blue  under  the  glaze. 
Any  appearance  of  chalkiness  in  the  clay  indicates 
youth,  and,  as  a general  rule,  the  clearer  and  more 
metallic  the  ring  of  the  biscuit,  the  greater  the  age  of 
the  piece.  The  colour  of  the  /?/eu  sous  couverte  is  also 
a help.  The  tone  is  richest  and  most  pleasing  in 
specimens  manufactured  during  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury ; in  vases  of  earlier  date  it  is  often  impure  and 
blurred.  To  very  choice,  elaborate,  and  carefully 
finished  examples  of  enamelling  it  will  generally  be 
unsafe  to  assign  a greater  age  than  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years,  and,  from  what  has  been  stated  above,  the 
amateur  will  see  that  the  colours  of  the  enamels 
afford  some  slight  assistance:  the  red  should  be  deep 
and  even,  with  a dull,  rather  than  a glossy,  surface ; 
while  lemon-yellow,  purple,  and  black  in  combination 
are  evidences  at  once  of  choice  ware  and  of  middle- 
period  (1700-1830)  manufacture.  Another  easily 
detected  point  is  the  colour  of  the  biscuit.  In  the 
wares  of  Kakiemon,  or  rather  in  those  of  his  school, 
there  is  found  a cream-white  surface,  sometimes  almost 
equal  to  the  ivory-white  of  Korea  and  China.  But 

89 


JAPAN 

specimens  of  this  sort  belong  to  the  Nabeshima-yakiy 
which  will  be  described  presently,  rather  than  to  genu- 
ine Imari-yakiy  or  “Old  Japan/'  The  biscuit  of  the 
latter,  also,  ought  to  be  white  — the  whiter  the  better 
— -but  a perfectly  pure  white  is  seldom,  if  ever, 
found.  This,  however,  may  be  stated  : that  a surface 
showing  a marked  tinge  of  blue  is  not  of  fine  quality, 
and  that  the  more  pronounced  the  tinge  the  less  valu- 
able the  specimen.  With  regard  to  the  glaze,  too, 
there  is  another  point  which  merits  close  attention. 
Examined  attentively,  the  glaze  of  Imari-yaki  pre- 
sents the  appearance  of  very  fine  muslin.  It  is  pitted 
all  over  with  microscopic  points,  which  become  more 
and  more  distinct  as  a later  and  less  careful  period  of 
manufacture  is  approached.  It  should  be  mentioned 
here  that  no  reason  whatsoever  exists  for  the  often 
alleged  difficulty  of  distinguishing  between  the  enam- 
elled porcelain  of  Arita  and  that  of  China.  To  those 
who  cannot  identify  the  comparatively  coarse  pate  of 
the  Japanese  ware,  an  easy  aid  is  afforded  by  the 
superior  lustre  and  closer  texture  of  the  Chinese  glaze. 
It  may  also  be  asserted  that  with  the  exception  of  the 
well-known  famille  rose  porcelain  of  Ching-te-chen, 
no  Chinese  ware  shows  decoration  as  delicate  and 
faithful  as  that  found  on  almost  all  specimens  of 
Japanese  manufacture.  A rough  rule,  useful  in  the 
case  of  plates  and  other  flat  objects,  is  that  on  the 
bottom  of  Japanese  pieces  are  frequently  found  “spur 
marks,"  three  or  five  in  number,  being  the  remains 
of  little  clay  pillars  upon  which  the  specimen  was 
supported  in  the  furnace.  These  are  never  seen  on 
Chinese  porcelain. 

Among  the  wares  of  the  Arita  factories  in  former 
times,  specimens  of  pierced  or  reticulated  porcelain 

90 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

are  often  found,  especially  in  plates  and  censers. 
Work  of  this  sort  is  seldom  very  delicate  in  poly- 
chrome Imari-yaku  It  must  rather  be  regarded  as 
a specialty  of  the  Mikawachi,  or  Hirado,  potters. 
Nevertheless,  medallions  filled  with  reticulated  diapers 
were  often  employed,  with  excellent  effect,  to  give 
lightness  and  variety  to  a profusely  decorated  surface. 
Another  device  was  to  model  portions  of  the  design 
in  relief.  This  method  was  employed  most  fre- 
quently in  the  case  of  scrolls  or  bunches  of  chrysan- 
themums, the  raised  petals  of  the  flowers  producing 
a highly  artistic  effect.  Much  less  common,  but  even 
more  pleasing  in  its  results,  was  a method  of  deeply 
pitting  parts  of  the  surface,  especially  the  shoulders 
of  a vase  or  bottle.  The  play  of  light  and  shade  upon 
the  rounded  edges  of  the  pits  combined  with  the 
brilliant  colours  of  the  enamels  to  produce  a softness 
and  richness  which  must  be  seen  to  be  appreciated. 
In  connection  with  this  part  of  the  subject,  it  may 
be  well  to  caution  the  amateur  against  Jacquemart’s 
phantasies  with  regard  to  Japanese  porcelain.  His 
‘‘  Porcelaine  a Mandarins and  “ Porcelaine  des 
Indes  a Fleur  ” are  examples  of  the  remarkable  mis- 
apprehensions into  which  the  most  conscientious  and 
painstaking  connoisseur  may  be  betrayed  by  building 
broad  theories  upon  slender  hypotheses  suggested  by 
his  own  imagination.  These  wares  never  came  out 
of  Japanese  factories.  In  short,  of  Jacquemart’s  four 
representative  examples  of  Japanese  porcelain,  de- 
picted with  great  care  in  his  plates,  two  only,  the 
first  and  the  last,  are  what  they  profess  to  be : the 
others  are  Chinese. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  use  of  lacquer  for  deco- 
rating faience  dates  from  the  latter  part  of  the 

91 


JAPAN 

fifteenth  century,  when  Soshiro  of  Fushimi  applied 
this  material  to  the  surface  of  his  pieces.  The  manu- 
facture of  lacquer  is,  perhaps,  the  oldest  of  Japan’s 
art  industries.  As  early  as  the  seventh  century  lac- 
quered articles  were  received  by  the  Government  by 
way  of  taxes,  and  in  the  days  of  Yoshimasa  the 
lacquer-workers  of  Kyoto  were  numerous  and  wonder- 
fully skilled.  It  was  probably  owing  entirely  to 
Yoshimasa’s  passion  for  lacquered  wares,  and  to  their 
consequent  popularity  that  Soshiro  conceived  the  idea 
of  decorating  faience  by  this  process.  The  fashion 
was  rarely  adopted  by  the  renowned  potters  of  Kyot5 
in  later  times.  Lacquer  only  became  a recognised 
substitute  for  vitrifiable  enamels  at  Arita  in  the  third, 
or  degraded,  period  of  the  Hizen  industry  ; namely, 
from  the  second  advent  of  Westerns  in  1858.  Al- 
most immediately  after  the  revival  of  foreign  trade  at 
Nagasaki,  by  the  Americans,  Dutch,  English,  and 
French  in  1858-1860,  the  potters  at  Arita  began  to 
pander  to  the  vulgar  demands  of  foreign  taste.  Size 
and  showiness  were  regarded  as  the  main  objects  to 
be  attained  in  the  manufacture  of  a vase  ; and  lacquer, 
being  not  only  much  cheaper  but  also  more  easily 
used  than  vitrifiable  enamels,  became  the  staple  of 
decorative  material.  According  to  the  records  of  the 
Arita  potters  themselves,  the  idea  of  employing  lac- 
quer in  this  way  was  due,  originally,  to  an  accident. 
Some  pieces  of  size  having  emerged  from  the  kiln 
in  a blemished  condition,  their  defects  were  concealed 
by  a coating  of  lacquer,  and  in  that  condition  they 
were  exposed  for  sale.  They  immediately  attracted 
the  attention  of  foreign  buyers,  and  the  manufac- 
turers obtained  a suggestion  from  this  unanticipated 
result. 


92 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

It  is  impossible  to  condemn  too  strongly  the 
wretched  products  of  this  mercenary  impulse.  Every- 
body knows  and  abhors  them  nowadays.  Their 
representative  is  a vase,  from  three  to  six  feet  in 
height,  in  shape  resembling  a truncated  soda-water 
bottle,  with  its  neck  spread  out  into  the  semblance 
of  a scalloped  trumpet.  Over  the  surface  of  this  is 
scrawled  an  elaborate  decoration  in  thin,  washy  red 
paint ; and  in  reserved  panels  are  rudely  drawn  figures 
of  women  or  warriors  with  lacquered  drapery  and 
armour.  Frequently  the  space  between  the  panels 
is  covered  with  black  lacquer  which  serves  as  a 
ground  for  scrolls  in  gold  or  red.  The  whole  thing 
is  vulgar  and  meretricious  in  the  extreme.  Never- 
theless, great  quantities  of  this  ‘‘Nagasaki  Ware” 
were  exported,  and  many  an  American  or  European 
amateur  flatters  himself  that  in  the  big,  obtrusive 
vases  which  disfigure  his  vestibule  he  has  genuine 
specimens  of  Japanese  art,  whereas  he  has,  in  truth, 
nothing  more  than  a Japanese  estimate  of  his  own 
bad  taste.  Some  manufactures  of  this  degraded 
period  have  their  surfaces  completely  covered  with 
lacquer,  upon  which  are  designs  in  gold  and  colours. 
In  such  pieces  the  porcelain  base  might  equally  well 
be  wood.  In  others  the  outer  surface  is  coated  with 
lacquer,  while  the  inner  has  decoration  in  enamels  or 
blue  under  the  glaze.  In  others,  again,  there  are 
reserved,  in  the  lacquer,  medallions  or  panels  which 
are  filled  with  decoration.  And  finally  figures,  scrolls, 
and  diapers,  in  raised  or  flat  gold  lacquer,  are  applied 
to  the  surface  of  old  pieces  which  were  originally 
manufactured  without  any  ornament.  Of  this  last 
variety  great  quantities  have  been  shipped  to  Europe 
and  America,  where  they  pass  among  ignorant  per- 

93 


JAPAN 

sons  as  genuine  representatives  of  early  Japanese  ke- 
ramic  art. 

There  remains  to  be  noticed  a method  of  decora- 
tion very  rarely  employed  by  the  potters  of  Arita. 
A paste  formed  of  chalk  and  glutinous  rice  was  used 
to  mould  flowers  — chiefly  chrysanthemums  and 
peonies  — in  relief.  This  decoration  was  not  fired, 
but  only  sun-dried.  It  had  therefore  little  durability, 
and  pieces  thus  adorned  possessed  no  value  for  the 
Japanese  connoisseur.  They  appear,  however,  to 
have  been  occasionally  exported. 

Happily  for  the  permanent  reputation  of  Japanese 
keramics,  the  vitiated  styles  of  the  Nagasaki  ware 
described  above  began  to  be  replaced,  some  ten  years 
ago,  by  fashions  more  consistent  with  the  true  canons 
of  the  country’s  art.  Allusion  will  be  subsequently 
made  to  this  part  of  the  subject. 

Okawachi-yama  — which  is  written  ‘‘  0-kawa-uchi- 
yama^"  or  ‘‘  the  hill  within  the  great  river  ” — lies  in 
the  district  of  Nishimatsu-ura,  about  eight  miles  from 
Arita.  The  keramic  industry  was  commenced  in  this 
district  at  a factory  called  Hirose.  The  first  potters 
were  Koreans,  who  settled  there,  about  the  year  1 600, 
by  order  of  Nabeshima  Naoshige,  feudal  chief  of  the 
province.  Their  productions  were  faience,  rudely 
decorated  with  white  slip  under  the  glaze  and  having 
pate  sufficiently  dense  to  be  called  stone-ware.  A few 
years  later,  when  the  methods  of  porcelain  manufac- 
ture came  to  be  understood  at  Arita,  some  of  the 
Hirose  workmen  turned  their  attention  to  the  new 
ware.  A special  kiln  was  opened  for  its  production, 
and  about  the  same  time,  or  a little  later,  certain  of 
the  Arita  potters  moved  to  Ichinose,  in  the  same 
district,  and  there  began  to  manufacture  porcelain 

94 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

with  materials  procured  from  Izumi-yama.  It  does 
not  appear  that  the  wares  of  either  of  these  two  fac- 
tories showed  any  remarkable  excellence.  At  the 
middle  of  the  century  (1660),  however,  the  feudal 
chief  of  the  province,  desiring  to  establish  a factory 
for  the  production  of  choice  porcelains,  selected  the 
district  of  Nishimatsu-ura,  and  caused  the  best  work- 
men of  Hirose  and  Ichinose  to  open  a kiln  at  Oka- 
wachi  (generally  pronounced  Okochi).  Up  to  this 
time  wares  for  official  use  had  been  manufactured  at 
Iwaya-gawa,  but  the  latter  factory  was  now  closed 
and  its  experts  were  employed  at  Okawachi.  The 
feudal  chief  of  Hizen,  by  whose  orders  this  change 
was  made,  was  a liberal  patron  of  art  industries.  He 
appropriated  considerable  sums  for  the  support  of  the 
Okawachi  factory,  and  he  further  adopted  the  very 
exceptional  course  of  raising  to  shizoku  rank  any 
potters  of  conspicuous  skill.  Materials  were  procured 
from  Arita,  and  the  most  stringent  measures  were 
adopted  to  prevent  the  sale  of  the  pieces  manufac- 
tured. It  will  readily  be  understood  that  ware  pro- 
duced under  such  auspices  attained  a very  high 
standard  of  excellence.  The  Nabeshima-yaki,  as  the 
Okawachi  manufactures  were  subsequently  called, 
stands  first  among  Japanese  porcelains  decorated  with 
vitrifiable  enamels. 

The  factory  received  the  name  of  0-dogu-yama  (the 
hill  of  the  honourable  ware).  A retainer  of  the 
feudal  chief,  by  name  Soeda  Kizaemon,  who  had 
studied  keramic  processes  and  who  enjoyed  the  repu- 
tation of  being  a man  of  refined  taste,  was  appointed 
superintendent  of  the  factory,  an  office  which  was 
filled  by  his  descendants  for  many  generations.  Other 
officials  were  associated  with  him,  their  instructions 

95 


JAPAN 

being  to  prevent  the  sale  of  any  of  the  porcelains 
produced,  to  restrain  the  potters  from  taking  employ- 
ment at  other  kilns,  and  to  exclude  all  travellers  or 
workmen  from  other  districts.  The  factory  thus  es- 
caped the  influence  of  the  Dutch  traders,  and  its 
decorative  methods  were  governed  virtually  by  the 
canons  of  Japanese  taste.  The  • ornamentation  of 
the  pieces  is  consequently  less  profuse  than  that  of  the 
Imari-yaki^  and  the  ware  altogether  is  characterised 
by  chasteness  and  delicacy.  The  pdte  is  finer  and 
whiter,  with  less  admixture  of  foreign  particles  than 
that  of  the  Old  Japan,”  though  in  some  very  ex- 
cellent specimens  it  has  a marked  tinge  of  red.  The 
glaze  also  is  distinguished  by  purity  and  lustre : ex- 
amined carefully,  it  shows  minute  pitting  similar  to 
that  seen  in  the  porcelain  of  Imari,  but  of  the  two 
the  granulation  of  the  former  will  be  found  less 
marked.  ^ The  most  strikingly  distinctive  feature  of 
the  Nabeshima  porcelain  is  that  decoration  in  blue 
under  the  glaze  is  relegated  to  a subordinate  place. 
In  many  specimens,  indeed,  the  style  of  Kakiemon  is 
strictly  followed : bleu  sous  couverte  is  not  employed, 
at  all,  the  designs  being  executed  entirely  in  vitrifiable 
enamels.  As  a general’  rule,  however,  cobaltiferous 
manganese  is  sparingly  used,  biit  it  is  evidently  a 
mineral  prepared  differently  from  that  of  the  Arita 
potters.  The  tone  is  lighter  .and  more  delicate,  so 
that,  even  in  pieces  where  a blue  scroll  constitutes  the 
chief  part  of  the  decoration,  nothing  is  seen  of  the 
rich,  massed  effect  of  the  Imari  colours.  Gold  is 
applied  in  moderation,  and  the  deep,  dark  red  of  the 
Old  Japan”  is  replaced  by  a pigment  of  lighter 
tone,  often  justifying  the  appellation  ‘‘  orange.” 
Pieces  decorated  entirely  with  blue  under  the  glaze 

96 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

are  not  uncommon,  but  can  scarcely  be  accorded  a 
high  place  among  wares  of  this  description,  the  tone 
of  the  blue  being  neither  sufficiently  intense  and  bril- 
liant to  compete  with  Chinese  colours  of  the  Ming 
and  Kang-shi  periods,  nor  yet  so  soft  and  refined  as 
to  rank  with  the  outcome  of  the  Hirado  factories, 
presently  to  be  described.  It  is  difficult  to  convey, 
in  writing,  any  definite  rules  by  which  the  wares  of 
Nabeshima  and  Imari  may  be  distinguished,  though 
in  practice  the  amateur  is  in  little  danger  of  confound- 
ing them.  The  Nabeshima-yaki  is  altogether  the  less 
gaudy  ware  of  the  two.  It  seldom  suggests  that  deco- 
rative effect  was  the  potter’s  object,  neither  on  any 
specimen  are  there  seen  those  masses  of  dark  blue 
and  deep,  dull  red  which  constitute  the  staple  of  the 
Imari  decoration.  As  for  the  designs,  they  are  con- 
fined almost  exclusively  to  floral  subjects,  scrolls,  and 
diapers.  Occasionally  figures  and  landscapes  are 
copied  directly  from  the  Chinese,  but  the  commonest 
types  are  cherry  branches  and  blossoms,  chrysanthe- 
mums, hydrangeas,  peonies  — not  flowers  alone,  but 
also  leaves  and  sprays  — floral  scrolls  in  blue  with 
additions  such  as  conventional  butterflies,  birds,  blos- 
soms, and  so  forth,  in  orange-red  and  gold.  Com- 
binations of  carefully  executed  diapers  surrounding 
medallions  of  flowers  and  fruits  are  sometimes  seen. 
In  many  pieces,  especially  plates  or  dishes  with  raised 
bases,  the  bottom,  instead  of  being  sunken  within  its 
rim,  as  is  usual  in  such  vessels,  will  be  found  to  have 
no  rim,  but  only  a hole  in  the  centre.  The  object  of 
this  troublesome  method  of  construction  is  doubtless 
to  make  the  dish  stand  more  firmly  on  the  soft  mats 
which  cover  a Japanese  room.  Round  the  base  of 
small  plates,  bowls,  etc.,  the  potter  constantly  traced, 

VOL.  VIII.  — 7 qn 


JAPAN 

in  blue  under  the  glaze,  a pattern  serrated  like  the 
teeth  of  a comb.  By  some  connoisseurs  this  has  been 
deemed  a mark  of  high  quality,  but  such  an  inference 
is  erroneous.  The  comb  pattern  ” was  chosen  thus 
frequently  because  it  was  easily  traced,  and  because 
its  appearance  of  regularity  and  strength  rendered  it 
specially  suitable  to  occupy  the  lower  rim,  or  base, 
of  a piece.  The  Nabeshima  potters,  as  a rule,  did 
not  use  marks,  or  copy  Chinese  marks,  except  on 
pieces  which  were  obvious  reproductions  of  Chinese 
originals.  The  obvious  reason  of  this  was  that  the 
productions  of  the  Okawachi  factories  were  destined 
solely  for  the  house  of  Nabeshima.  Okawachi,  in 
fact,  was  a private  kiln. 

The  ‘‘  comb  pattern,”  though  doubtless  intended 
originally  as  an  ornament,  soon  came  to  be  regarded 
as  a factory  mark ; but  being  found  sometimes  on  old 
Kutani  ware,  its  presence  cannot  be  taken  as  a con- 
clusive sign  of  Nabeshima  porcelain.  At  Okawachi, 
as  at  other  factories  that  enjoyed  the  patronage  of 
local  magnates,  pieces  were  frequently  manufactured 
for  presentation  to  the  Court  at  Yedo  or  to  some  of 
the  feudal  barons.  In  such  cases  the  crest  of  the 
prince  or  noble  for  whom  the  specimen  was  destined, 
was  occasionally  worked  into  the  decoration ; but  as 
the  Nabeshima  style  did  not  readily  lend  itself  to 
these  additions,  they  are  comparatively  uncommon  on 
Okawachi  ware. 

Special  note  must  be  taken  of  the  celadon^  or  Seijiy 
manufactured  at  Okawachi.  It  has  already  been  men- 
tioned that  among  the  wares  of  the  Middle  Kingdom 
none  enjoyed  such  a high  reputation  in  Japan  as  the 
celadons  of  the  Sung^  TuaUy  and  Ming  dynasties.  To 
imitate  these  successfully  would  naturally  have  been 

98  ' 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

the  first  ambition  of  a Japanese  expert.  The  Oka- 
wachi  workmen  were  eminently  happy  in  this  direc- 
tion. At  no  other  kiln  in  Japan  were  celadons  of 
equal  quality  produced.  The  colour  of  the  glaze  in 
some  of  the  best  specimens  is  indescribably  beautiful. 
Only  a practised  eye  can  perceive  that,  in  point  of 
delicacy  and  lustre,  the  advantage  is  with  the  Chinese 
ware.  It  has  been  stated  above  that  the  materials  used 
at  Okawachi  were  procured  from  Izumi-yama,  in  the 
Arita  district.  But  within  the  Nishimatsu-ura  dis- 
trict there  was  found  a clay  of  fine  quality,  well  suited 
for  the  manufacture  of  stone-ware.  This  clay  appears 
to  have  been  mixed  with  the  Arita  stone  in  the  prepa- 
ration of  celadon  pate y the  object  of  the  workmen  being 
to  obtain  a semi-porcelain  mass  showing  the  reddish 
tint  seen  in  old  Chinese  celadons.  Such  a method  was 
not,  however,  invariable.  A close-grained,  white  pate 
— the  Arita  clay  prepared  with  special  care  — is  often 
found  in  good  specimens  of  old  Nabeshima-yaki^ 
whether  cdadon  or  enamelled  porcelain.  From  a later 
period  — about  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  — 
when  the  Okawachi  potters,  no  longer  enjoying  so 
large  a share  of  official  patronage,  were  obliged  to 
economise  the  cost  of  transporting  materials,  the  clay 
of  the  district  began  to  be  more  freely  used,  and  the 
pate  suffered  in  respect  of  both  texture  and  purity. 

Since  the  abolition  of  feudalism  in  Japan  (1868) 
the  Okawachi  potters  have  been  obliged  to  materially 
alter  the  character  of  their  work.  They  seldom 
manufacture  fine  specimens  of  richly  but  delicately 
enamelled  porcelain.  Their  staple  production  is  thick 
stone-ware,  covered  with  brown  or  celadon  glaze, 
coarsely  crackled  and  decorated  with  gold  and  red. 
Though  far  inferior  to  the  beautiful  porcelains  of  other 

99 


JAPAN 

days,  this  Naheshima-hihi-yaki  (Nabeshima  craquele)  is 
not  without  merits. 

Another  renowned  factory  is  that  of  Mikawachi- 
yama  — written  Mikawa-uchi’-yama^  or  ‘‘  the  hill  be- 
tween the  three  rivers,”  and  generally  pronounced 
Mikochi-yam,  Here  was  produced  Hirado-yaki^  perhaps 
the  finest  porcelain  manufactured  in  Japan.  The  story 
of  this  beautiful  ware  is  connected,  indirectly,  with  the 
Korean  immigrants  who  came  to  Japan  in  the  train 
of  Hideyoshi's  generals  (1579).  Matsura  Hoin,  feudal 
chief  of  Hirado,  a large  island  lying  off  the  coast  of 
Hizen,  caused  some  of  these  Koreans  to  settle  at  a 
place  called  Nakano,  in  the  district  of  Kita-Matsura. 
Among  them  the  most  skilled  — in  fact,  the  only  one 
whose  name  has  been  transmitted  — was  Koseki  Ton- 
roku,  sometimes  called  Kyokan,  who  was  subsequently 
placed  on  the  roll  of  the  Hirado  vassals  under  the 
name  of  Imamura.  This  potter  was  afterwards  trans- 
ferred to  the  factory  of  Karatsu,  but  some  twenty  years 
later  (1630)  he  moved  again  to  a place  called  Yoshi- 
no-moto,  and  worked  there  with  his  sons. 

Very  little  is  known  of  the  ware  manufactured  by 
these  Koreans.  Tradition  says  that  it  was  a coarse 
faience,  rudely  decorated  with  designs  in  blue,  but  no 
specimens  appear  to  have  been  thought  worthy  of 
preserving.  Tonroku,  or  Imamura,  died  about  1640. 
He  left  two  sons,  Ton-ichi  and  Ton-ji.  In  1650 
these  potters  moved  to  Mikawachi.  They  are  said  to 
have  taken  this  step  at  the  instance  of  a brother  artist 
called  Nakazato  Moemon,  but  it  seems  more  probable 
that  their  purpose  was  to  avail  themselves  of  a superior 
variety  of  clay  which  had  been  discovered  by  Joen, 
son  of  Imamura  Ton-ichi  (or  San-no-jo,  as  his  name  is 
written  by  some),  at  the  hill  of  Mitsu-ga-take.  The 

100 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

new  material  — ajiro-tsuchiy  or  plait-grained  clay  — 
gave  a greatly  improved  pate;  by  no  means  a true 
porcelain,  however,  but  heavy  reddish  stone-ware,  over 
which  the  glaze  assumed  bluish  grey  colour.  The 
decoration  was  confined  to  simple  scroll  patterns  or 
conventional  designs  in  impure  blue  sous  couverte. 
The  factory  of  Mikawachi  was  not  then  under  official 
patronage.  It  was  a private  enterprise,  as  is  proved 
by  the  fact  that  Higuchi  Joen  (Joen’s  father  had 
changed  his  family  name  of  Imamura  to  Higuchi)  and 
Ishimaru  Yaichiemon,  a grandson  of  the  well-known 
Risampei,  together  with  other  potters  of  the  district, 
petitioned  their  feudal  chief  to  sanction  the  digging 
of  the  Ajiro-tsuchi.  Their  petition  was  granted,  but 
the  result  was  so  unsuccessful  that  the  factory  must 
have  ceased  working  had  it  not  been  supported  by 
Oyamado  Sahei,  a wealthy  enthusiast,  and  had  not 
its  prospects  been  completely  changed  by  an  event 
that  occurred  in  the  year  1712.  This  was  the  dis- 
covery of  a very  fine  porcelain  stohe  at  Fukae,  in  the 
island  of  Amakusa.  The  discovery  is  attributed  by 
some  to  Yajibei,  a descendant  of  Higuchi  Toen;  by 
others  to  Yokoishi  Toshichibei,  also  a man  of  Korean 
origin.  The  former  tradition  would  seem  to  be  cor- 
rect, inasmuch  as  Yajibei  was  afterwards  worshipped 
at  Mikawachi  under  the  deified  title  of ‘‘Joen  Daim- 
yojin.”  The  Amakusa  stone  was  not  used  alone.  It 
was  mixed  with  the  ajiro-tsuchi  of  Mitsu-ga-take,  and 
a porcelain  pate  of  exceptional  fineness  and  purity  was 
thus  produced.  During  the  next  thirty  or  forty  years 
the  potter’s  industry  existed,  but  did  not  thrive,  at 
Mikawachi.  The  method  of  using  vitrifiable  enamels 
was  not  known,  or,  if  known,  was  not  practised,  and 
the  expense X of  transporting  materials  from  Amakusa, 

lOI 


JAPAN 

as  well  as  the  difficulty  of  procuring  choice  blue  for 
decorative  purposes,  nearly  led  to  the  closing  of  the 
factory.  But  in  1751  Matsura,  feudal  chief  of 
Hirado,  took  the  kiln  under  his  patronage,  and  guar- 
anteed the  potters  against  vicissitudes  of  trade  by  grant- 
ing them  ample  rations.  This  nobleman  was  a most 
munificent  connoisseur.  He  bestowed  scarcely  less 
attention  on  the  potteries  of  his  fief  than  Louis  XV. 
did  on  those  of  Sevres.  The  pieces  produced  at  Mi- 
kawachi  were  reserved  entirely  for  his  own  use  or  for 
presentation  to  other  noblemen,  as  well  as  to  the  Court 
of  the  Tokugawa  Regents  in  Yedo.  Regulations  were 
enacted  peremptorily  forbidding  the  sale  of  any  of  the 
manufactures,  and  guards  were  appointed  to  see  that 
this  injunction  was  not  violated.  Porcelains  produced 
under  these  special  conditions  were  distinguished  as 
Kenjo-mono,  or  ‘‘  presentation  pieces.’’  Matsura  is  said 
to  have  particularly  patronised  the  families  of  Naka- 
zato  and  Imamura  (Higuchi)  in  recognition  of  the 
fact  that  their  ancestors  had  opened  the  first  potteries 
in  his  fief. 

To  the  ware  potted  at  Mikawachi  from  1750  until 
the  era  of  Tempo  (1830—1843)  may  be  assigned  the 
first  place  among  the  porcelains  of  Japan.  The  pdte 
of  this  Hirado-yaki  was  finer,  purer,  and  whiter  than 
that  of  either  the  Nabeshima-yaki  or  the  Imari-yaku 
Much  was  doubtless  due  to  the  excellence  of  the  ma- 
terials employed,  but  much  also  to  the  care  bestowed 
upon  their  selection  and  manipulation.  Of  the  stone 
brought  from  Amakusa  not  more  than  five  or  six  parts 
in  every  hundred  were  used,  and  this  serviceable  por- 
tion was  obtained  by  the  most  laborious  processes  of 
pulverising  and  straining.  With  the  Amakusa  stone 
was  mixed  a proportion  of  the  ajiro-tsuchi  of  Mitsuga- 

102 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

take,  but  in  the  choicest  wares  the  latter  material  was 
replaced  by  Satsuma  ash  (vide  Satsuma-yaki),  The 
cost  of  transporting  one  thousand  pounds  of  stone  from 
Amakusa  was  about  £ i , and  of  that  quantity  not  more 
than  fifty  or  sixty  pounds  were  used  in  the  manufac- 
ture. The  Satsuma  ash  must  have  been  still  more 
expensive,  and  after  this  heavy  outlay  had  been  in- 
curred on  account  of  raw  materials,  no  limit  was  set 
to  the  labour  of  purification  and  preparation.  Remark- 
able results  were  obtained.  The  pate  of  good  Hirado- 
yaki  is  milk  white,  and  as  fine  as  pipe-clay.  Examined 
attentively,  it  is  found  to  be  virtually  free  from  the 
dark,  gritty  particles  so  common  in  Imari  ware.  The 
glaze  is  pure  in  tone,  its  surface  velvet-like,  lustrous 
and  almost  entirely  without  the  minute  granulations 
usually  observable  in  “ Old  Japan.” 

It  is  not,  however,  till  the  decoration  is  considered 
that  the  incomparable  beauties  of  this  Hirado-yaki  be- 
come fully  apparent.  With  rare  exceptions,  blue  is 
the  only  colour  employed.  It  is  not  the  intense, 
fathomless  colour  of  the  old  Chinese  keramists,  nor 
yet  is  it  the  light,  comparatively  bodiless  blue  of  the 
Nabeshima  ware.  It  is  a tint  between  the  two,  ex- 
quisitely soft  and  clear,  but  remarkable  for  delicacy 
rather  than  brilliancy.  Connoisseurs  whose  standard 
of  excellence  as  to  bleu  sous  couverte  is  fixed  by  the 
rich,  solid  body-colour  of  first-class  Chinese  Haw- 
thorns,” have  been  disposed  to  place  the  Hirado  blue 
in  a lower  category,  and  to  assume  that  the  Chinese 
colour  could  not  be  irnitiated  at  Mikawachi.  That 
is  a misconception.  The  Japanese  potter  preferred 
the  more  delicate  colour,  and  spared  neither  trouble 
nor  expense  to  produce  it.  In  the  eighteenth  century 
supplies  of  the  cobaltiferous  mineral  employed  at 

103 


JAPAN 

Ching-te-chen  were  freely  imported  into  Japan,  and 
sold  to  the  factories  at  the  rate  of  fifty  shillings  a 
pound  (avoirdupois).  The  Hirado  potter,  instead  of 
using  this  mineral — gosu  he  called  it  — without  fur- 
ther preparation,  subjected  it  to  various  processes  of 
refinement,  until  at  last  not  more  than  one-sixth  of 
its  original  bulk  remained  available.  That  he  could 
have  produced  a colour  fully  equal  in  depth  and  bril- 
liancy to  that  of  the  Chinese  keramist,  there  is  no 
reasonable  doubt.  But  he  preferred  a delicate  tint, 
and  counted  its  production  a genuine  tour  de  force. 
Of  the  execution  of  the  designs  it  is  impossible  to 
speak  too  highly.  One  is  puzzled  to  conceive,  in  the 
first  place,  how  etching  so  wonderfully  fine  and  out- 
lines of  such  detailed  accuracy  can  have  been  trans- 
ferred to  a surface  of  baked  clay,  and,  in  the  second, 
how  every  process  of  glazing  and  stoving  can  have 
been  effected  with  sufficient  skill  to  preserve  these 
delicate  pictures.  There  are  few  subjects  which  the 
artists  of  Mikawachi  did  not  depict  upon  their  pieces, 
and  fewer  still  in  which  they  fell  short  of  marked 
success.  It  will  be  understood  that,  for  the  general 
reasons  already  detailed,  they  seldom  introduced 
human  figures  into  their  designs.  Yet  even  here  an 
exception  must  be  made  in  favour  of  children,  Rishi, 
B5dhisattva,  and  so  forth.  Little  boys  at  play  — 
a design  known  in  Japan  as  Kara-ko-asobi)  are  con- 
stantly found  upon  cups,  wine-bottles,  water-holders, 
and  plates  of  Hirado-yaki.  These  figures  are  generally 
associated  in  good  specimens  with  a variety  of  cord- 
and-tassel  pattern,  known  as  yo-raku-de.  The  number 
of  the  children  was  seven,  five,  or  three,  indicating, 
respectively,  first,  second,  and  third  class  ware.  In 
the  decoration  of  larger  pieces  the  artist  went  farther 

104 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

afield  in  search  of  a subject,  selecting  flowers,  trees, 
landscapes,  or  mythical  incidents.  He  also  set  himself 
technical  tasks  like  those  in  which  his  Chinese  con- 
frere revelled.  He  would  enclose  a tiny  censer  in  a 
basket  of  porcelain,  or  spread  under  the  surface  of  a 
milk-white  glaze  designs  in  relief,  executed  with  me- 
chanical and  artistic  fidelity  superior  even  to  the  work 
of  the  Chinese.  He  delighted,  too,  in  modelling 
little  figures  of  his  favourite  Karako,  rampant  dragons, 
mythical  Shishi,  wrinkled  old  men,  fishes,  and  so  forth. 
In  this  sort  of  work  he  excelled  all  other  porcelain 
manufacturers  in  the  Orient.  Vitrifiable  enamels  he 
did  not  use,  but  the  drapery  of  his  Karako,  and  the 
details  of  other  modelling,  were  often  picked  out  with 
three  coloured  glazes,  rich  blue,  russet-brown,  and 
black.  The  potters  of  Mikawachi  were  also  renowned 
for  their  egg-shell  porcelain,  but  their  reputation  in 
this  kind  of  ware  was  not  acquired  till  a late  period, 
and  in  producing  it  they  seem  to  have  confined  them- 
selves to  the  manufacture  of  cups,  rice-bowls,  and 
plates.  Strange  to  say,  neither  they  nor  any  other 
Japanese  keramists  attempted  to  imitate  the  lace-pat- 
tern (commonly  called  “ grains-of-rice  pattern  por- 
celain of  China.  To  cut  designs  in  the  biscuit  and  fill 
them  with  glaze  was  a feat  apparently  beyond  Jap- 
anese skill  in  former  times,  though  it  has  been  accom- 
plished by  the  potters  of  to-day. 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  Hizen  potters  seldom 
manufactured  pieces  in  biscuit  (/.  e.  unglazed  porce- 
lain). Specimens  of  such  ware  are  exceptional. 
When  of  Imari  clay,  they  are  generally  censers  or 
wine-bottles  with  designs  in  high  relief — as  ara- 
besques, floral  scrolls,  mythical  animals,  and  so  forth. 
At  the  Mikawachi  factory  glaze  was  nearly  always  ap- 

105 


JAPAN 

plied ; but  in  very  rare  instances  designs  in  low  relief, 
executed  with  the  utmost  delicacy,  were  left  uncov- 
ered. Excellence  in  modelling  was,  indeed,  charac- 
teristic of  the  Mikawachi  keramist.  It  is  difficult  to 
conceive  anything  more  perfect  in  this  line  than  some 
of  his  tiny  figures  of  children  or  old  men ; and  the 
mythical  Shishi  and  Kirin  became,  in  his  hands,  ani- 
mals instinct  with  life  and  motion.  At  Arita,  also, 
modelling  was  practised  with  fair  success.  A favourite 
subject,  which  afforded  scope  for  the  art  both  of  the 
modeller  and  the  decorator,  was  the  figure  of  a girl, 
dressed  in  flowing  robes  of  rich  silk  and  brocade. 
Considerable  numbers  of  these  were  produced,  and 
many  have  found  their  way  into  Western  collections. 
But  it  must  be  admitted  that  in  the  vast  majority  of 
cases  they  are  by  no  means  chef s-d' oeuvre.  The  folds 
and  fall  of  the  drapery  generally  show  skilful  manage- 
ment, but  the  faces  do  not  command  admiration  : the 
delicacy  of  their  outlines  is  marred  by  the  glazing 
material.  Warriors  in  armour,  seated  on  Shogi  (a 
kind  of  stool),  and  forming  censers,  were  more  hap- 
pily treated.  Their  features,  generally  unglazed,  were 
often  excellently  modelled,  and  the  details  of  their 
armour  were  produced  with  the  utmost  fidelity  in 
coloured  enamels. 

With  rare  exceptions  Hirado  porcelain  is  not 
marked.  The  habit  — so  common  elsewhere  — of 
copying  Chinese  marks  was  not  contracted  at  Mika- 
wachi, and  on  pieces  manufactured  by  command  of 
the  feudal  chief  of  Hirado  the  potters  seldom  put  their 
names.  When,  however,  they  worked  for  the  ordinary 
market,  they  sometimes  stamped  the  name  of  both 
kiln  and  maker  on  the  bottom  of  a specimen.  This 
is  especially  true  of  wares  destined  for  export  to  China 

io6 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

through  the  medium  of  Chinese  dealers  in  Nagasaki. 
Specimens  thus  distinguished  were  not  of  the  finest 
quality,  and  probably  for  this  reason  they  do  not  ap- 
pear to  have  been  carefully  preserved.  Throughout 
the  Tempo  era  (1830—1843)  the  practice  of  marking 
— in  blue  under  the  glaze  — seems  to  have  become 
commoner,  but  the  outcome  of  the  factory  was  so 
small  that  very  few  specimens  of  that  period  survive. 

The  names  of  the  Mikawachi  potters  and  their 
order  of  descent  are  as  follows : — 

THE  IMAMURA  FAMILY,  FOUNDED  BY 

1.  Imamura  Tanroku  (1598-1640),  a Korean  who  came  to 

Japan  in  the  train  of  Hideyoshi’s  generals. 

2.  Imamura  Tonichi. 

3.  Imamura  Joen  (called  also  San-no-jo).  He  discovered 

(1650)  the  Ajiro-tsuchi^  or  plait-clay,  of  Mitsu-ga- 
take. 

4.  Imamura  Yajibei.  He  discovered  the  Amakusa  porce- 

lain stone  in  1712,  and  was  the  first  manufacturer  of 
Hirado  porcelain. 

5.  Imamura  Masafusa. 

6.  Imamura  Masayoshi. 

7.  Imamura  Masafusa. 

8.  Imamura  Masayoshi. 

9.  Imamura  Sohachi. 

10.  Imamura  Tsutsutaro. 

11.  Imamura  Yajibei. 

12.  Imamura  Junsaburo  — still  living,  but  not  engaged  in 

keramic  industry. 


THE  HIGUCHI  FAMILY,  FOUNDED  BY 

1.  Higuchi  Yajiro,  a son  of  Imamura  Joen,  third  descend- 

ant of  Imamura  Tanroku  {vide  Imamura  family), 

2.  Higuchi  Uemon. 

107 


JAPAN 

3.  Higuchi  Riemon  — famous  for  decoration  in  relief. 

Died  1861,  aged  90. 

4.  Higuchi  Uemon. 

5.  Higuchi  Keikichi, 

Higuchi  Yorasaku,  > still  living. 

Higuchi  Jiujiro,  ) 

N.B.  Other  representatives  of  this  family  worked  at  the 
Odashi  factory  (which  see  below). 


THE  YAMA-NO-UCHI  FAMILY,  FOUNDED  BY 

1.  Yama-no-uchi  Chobei,  a contemporary  of  Imamura 

Joen  (1650).  He  is  said  to  have  been  a most  enthu- 
siastic keramist  and  to  have  travelled  all  over  Japan 
in  the  interests  of  his  art. 

2.  Yama-no-uchi  Yohei.  His  original  name  was  Tanaka 

Yobei,  but  being  adopted  into  the  Yama-no-uchi 
family  he  became  Yama-no-uchi  Yohei.  He  pos- 
sessed considerable  ability  as  a pictorial  artist,  in 
which  capacity  he  is  known  as  Chokku-en,  his  teach- 
er’s name  being  Chokku-kei. 

3.  Yama-no-uchi  Yohei. 

4.  Yama-no-uchi  Yohei. 

5.  Yama-no-uchi  Yohei. 

6.  Yama-no-uchi  Tei-no  jo. 

7.  Yama-no-uchi  Matakichi.  Celebrated  for  the  excellence 

of  his  designs.  He  flourished  about  1780. 

8.  Yama-no-uchi  Kidayu.  Celebrated  for  the  beauty  of 

his  painting  in  blue  sous  couverte. 

9.  Yama-no-uchi  Yasuji. 

10.  Yama-no-uchi  Kyosaku,  who  is  now  engaged  in  the 
keramic  industry. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  another  group  of  potters 
worked  at  the  factory  of  Hikiba  in  the  neighbouring 
district.  This  factory  was  established  in  1662  by 
Moto-ishi  Hachirobei,  Fukuda  Gen-no-jo,  Fukuda 
Sukehei,  and  others.  Its  early  productions  were  a 

108 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

somewhat  rude  stone-ware  manufactured  with  clay 
found  at  an  adjacent  hill  called  Nagao.  A century 
later,  however,  considerable  improvements  were  intro- 
duced, and  in  1784  four  potters,  Moto-ishi  Heishichi, 
Fukuda  Juemon,  Fukuda  Chuzaemon,  and  Fukuda 
Seimon,  developed  so  much  skill  in  the  production 
of  coarsely  crackled  glazes  that  teacups  of  their 
manufacture  attracted  the  attention  of  their  feudal 
chief  and  were  thenceforth  regularly  presented  by 
him,  through  the  Governor  of  Nagasaki,  to  the  Court 
at  Yedo.  The  usual  decoration  on  these  cups  was  a 
branch  of  peach,  with  fruit  and  leaves,  in  blue  sous  cou-- 
*verte.  Porcelain  does  not  appear  to  have  been  manu- 
factured at  Hikiba  until  i860,  when  the  Amakusa 
stone  began  to  be  used  in  conjunction  with  materials 
from  the  Goto  islands  and  Tsushima.  Representa- 
tives of  the  Moto-ishi  and  Fukuda  families  still  work 
there ; namely,  Moto-ishi  Heishichi,  Fukuda  Yazae- 
mon,  Fukuda  Katsuzaemon,  and  Fukuda  lemon. 

Mention  is  here  made  only  of  potters  whose  families 
have  included  artists  of  distinction.  The  number  of 
families  actually  engaged  in  the  industry  at  Mika- 
wachi  in  the  days  of  the  factory’s  prosperity  was 
thirty-six.  The  kilns  were  all  under  the  nominal 
superintendence  of  officials  appointed  by  the  Baron 
of  Omura  (/.  e,  the  Hirado  Chief),  a special  directorate 
for  the  purpose  having  been  appointed  as  far  back  as 
1666,  though  it  was  not  until  the  middle  of  the  fol- 
lowing century  that  official  interference  assumed  a 
helpful  form. 

From  the  Tempo  era  (1830)  the  Hirado  porcelain 
began  to  show  marked  signs  of  inferior  technique, 
and  with  the  abolition  of  feudalism  (1868)  the  pro- 
duction of  fine  pieces  ceased  altogether  for  a time. 

109 


JAPAN 

About  1878  an  attempt  was  made  to  popularise  the 
ware  by  decorating  it  with  colours  in  the  well-known 
Kutani  style.  This  effort  was  very  short-lived.  It 
was  followed,  shortly  afterwards,  by  a more  whole- 
some impulse,  the  result  of  which  is  that  the  porce- 
lain of  Hirado  has  recovered  much  of  its  ancient 
reputation.  This  subject  is  more  fully  discussed  in  a 
subsequent  chapter  on  modern  keramic  developments. 

By  foreign  collectors  few  Japanese  wares  are  better 
known  than  the  Arita  egg-shell  porcelain.  Very 
erroneous  ideas  prevail  with  respect  to  its  antiquity, 
an  age  as  great  as  two  centuries  being  attributed  to 
some  pieces.  The  date  of  its  first  production  cannot 
be  fixed  with  absolute  accuracy,  but  there  are  very 
strong  grounds  for  believing  that  it  was  not  manufac- 
tured befDre  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
There  are  two  varieties,  the  one  decorated  with  blue 
sous  couverte ; the  other  with  red,  gold,  and  sometimes 
light  blue  above  the  glaze.  The  latter  is  essentially 
modern.  It  was  made  originally  for  export,  and  con- 
siderable quantities  of  it  have  been  shipped  from 
Nagasaki  during  the  past  twenty  years.  Figure  sub- 
jects— warriors  in  armour  or  courtesans  in  elaborate 
drapery  — constitute  the  general  decoration,  which  is 
seldom  executed  with  any  conspicuous  skill.  A pretty 
conception  was  to  protect  wine-cups  of  this  fragile 
ware  by  envelopes  of  wonderfully  finely  plaited  bas- 
ket-work {ajiro-gumi).  The  envelopes  were  manu- 
factured at  Nagasaki,  whither  the  cups  were  sent  for 
sale,  — usually  in  nests  of  three,  five,  or  seven. 

The  blue-and-white  egg-shell  porcelain  of  Hizen, 
though  commonly  attributed  to  the  Arita  factories, 
was  produced  almost  entirely  at  Mikawachi.  Doubt- 
less some  pieces  were  originally  manufactured  at  the 

1 10 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

former  place,  but  the  stone  of  Izumi-yama  was  ill- 
adapted  to  the  purpose.  It  is  recorded  that  about 
the  year  1820  a fire,  occurring  at  one  of  the  Arita 
factories,  destroyed  nearly  the  whole  hamlet.  The 
potters  were  reduced  to  great  straits,  and  had  almost 
despaired  of  carrying  on  their  industry,  when  one  of 
their  leaders,  Hisatani  Yojibei,  assembled  his  comrades 
and  suggested  the  expedient  of  manufacturing  porce- 
lain expressly  for  foreign  markets.  It  is  not  to  be 
inferred  that  the  productions  of  Arita  had  hitherto 
been  confined  to  Japanese  use.  They  were  unques- 
tionably exported  by  the  Dutch.  But  the  pieces  sent 
to  Nagasaki  with  this  object  were  the  surplus  rather 
than  the  staple  of  the  manufacture.  Hisatani’s  idea 
was  that  an  effort  should  be  made  to  develop  foreign 
sales,  as  no  other  prospect  offered  of  recouping  the 
losses  caused  by  the  fire.  The  potters  adopted  his 
counsel.  A quantity  of  porcelain  was  soon  ready  for 
sale,  but  the  question  was  how  to  sell  it.  The  con- 
sent of  Nabeshima,  chief  of  Hizen,  had  to  be  first 
obtained;  after  which  Hisatani  himself  proceeded  to 
Nagasaki  to  manage  the  business.  There,  however, 
he  found  that  the  number  of  merchants  permitted  to 
engage  in  foreign  trade  was  strictly  limited  to  ten. 
These  monopolists  refused  peremptorily  to  imperil 
the  porcelain  market  by  throwing  on  it  a sudden  pro- 
fusion of  Arita  wares.  Hisatani  did  not  succumb  to 
such  adverse  circumstances.  He  set  himself  down  in 
Nagasaki,  and  after  ten  years  of  perseverance,  varied 
only  by  differences  in  the  degree  of  hardship  endured, 
he  succeeded  in  purchasing  the  privilege  of  one  of 
the  monopolists.  During  this  interval  of  waiting  he 
had  time  to  study  the  tastes  of  European  customers, 
as  interpreted  by  the  Dutch.  He  learned  that  the 

1 1 1 


JAPAN 

thinner  the  pate  the  more  highly  was  porcelain  valued 
in  the  West.  Then  visiting  Mikawachi,  he  urged 
the  Hirado  potters  no  longer  to  limit  their  manufac- 
ture of  egg-shell  ware  to  wine-cups  and  other  dimin- 
utive utensils  for  Japanese  use.  The  result  of  his 
advice  was  the  blue-and-white  egg-shell  familiar  to 
foreigners.  Very  little  of  it  now  remains  in  Japan, 
but  at  one  time  bowls,  plates,  and  cups  might  be 
found  without  great  difficulty.  The  ware  was  as 
thin  as  paper,  and  the  decoration  — blue , sous  couverte 

— was  not  only  well  executed  but  of  pure,  brilliant 
colour.  This  porcelain  was  almost  invariably  marked 
Zo-shun-tei  Mi-ho-sei  (made  at  the  factory  of  Zoshun 
by  Miho),  a mark  which  began  to  be  applied  at  Mika- 
wachi, about  1825,  to  ware  manufactured  at  the 
factory  that  owed  its  establishment  to  Hisatani’s  sug- 
gestion. The  name  of  this  enterprising  potter,  Hisa- 
tani  Yojibei,  is  revered  in  Hizen  to  the  present  day. 
‘‘Miho”  was  his  artist  name.  His  grandson,  Hisa- 
tani  Genichi,  is  now  working. 

Brief  reference  may  be  made  to  artists  other  than  the 
above,  whose  names  are  best  known  in-  connection  with  the 
porcelain  manufacture  of  Hizen. 

The  Sakaida  family,  founded  by  Sakaida  Kakiemon 
(1615-1653),  who  in  conjunction  with  Higashijima  Tokue- 
mon  manufactured  the  first  enamelled  porcelain  in  Japan,  is 
still  extant,  its  present  representative  being  Sakaida  Shibuno- 
suke,  twelfth  in  descent  from  Kakiemon.  Throughout  the 
eleven  generations  between  the  first  Kakiemon  and  Shibuno- 
suku,  each  representative  of  the  family  bore  the  same  name 

— Sakaida  Kakiemon.  These  potters,  whenever  they  marked 
their  wares,  employed  the  ideographs  Saka-kaki. 

The  Fukagawa  family,  founded  by  a potter  whose  second 
name  is  not  known  (about  1650).  The  present  representa- 
tive is  Fukagawa  Ezaiemon,  who  succeeded  to  the  hereditary 

112 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

business  in  1856.  The  factory  occupied  itself  in  the  manu- 
facture of  wares  for  home  use  entirely  until  1868,  when, 
owing  to  the  downfall  of  the  feudal  system  and  the  with- 
drawal of  baronial  patronage,  Japanese  keramists  were 
everywhere  obliged  to  turn  their  attention  to  foreign  markets. 
Ezaiemon  opened  a warehouse  for  the  sale  of  Arita  porce- 
lain at  Deshima,  in  Nagasaki.  In  1876  he  took  the  lead 
in  establishing  a keramic  society  called  the  Koran-sha.  This 
name,  which  literally  signifies  the  company  of  the  fragrant 
orchid,”  was  that  of  a factory  at  which  the  Tsuji  family  had  for 
many  years  been  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  porcelain  for 
official  use.  A spray  of  orchid  flowers  and  leaves  had  long 
been  a favourite  mark  on  Arita  ware  (vide  Marks  and  Seals). 
Tsuji  Katsuzo,  then  head  of  the  factory,  joined  the  new  asso- 
ciation, and  by  the  enterprise  of  these  artists  the  manufacture 
of  Arita  porcelain  began  to  recover  much  of  its  old  excellence. 
They  did  not  indeed  succeed  in  preparing  a fine  fate  and  a 
lustrous,  uniform  glaze,  equal  to  the  work  of  the  old  potters  ; 
but  their  management  of  vitrifiable  enamels  and  their  fertility 
in  decorative  designs  left  little  to  be  desired.  In  1880 
Tsuji  seceded  from  the  Koran-sha,  in  company  with  several 
other  experts,  and  established  a separate  association,  to  which 
they  gave  the  name  of  Seiji-sha  (pure  ware  company).  The 
original  purpose  of  the  Seiji-sha  was  to  produce  porcelain  for 
export  only,  but  it  soon  began  to  supply  the  home  market  also. 
The  principal  artists  are  Tsuji  Katsuo,  Tetsuka  Kame-no- 
suke,  Fukami  Takeji,  and  Kawara  Chujiro.  Their  work, 
already  admirable,  gives  earnest  of  steady  improvement. 
At  a recent  exhibition  in  Tokyo,  vases  in  fine  white  biscuit 
with  delicately  executed  designs  in  relief,  and  large  pieces 
richly  decorated  with  enamels  of  great  brilliancy,  established 
the  Seiji-sha's  title  to  be  regarded  as  the  leading  factory  in 
Arita.  They  are  now  working  with  machinery  procured  from 
France,  and  it  is  safe  to  predict  that  unless  they  revert  to  the 
degraded  fashions  of  the  years  immediately  succeeding  the  fall 
of  feudalism,  when  Japanese  artists  generally  fell  into  the  error 
of  pandering  to  the  lowest  form  of  Western  taste,  the  Arita 
porcelain  of  the  future  will  be  equal  in  brilliancy  and  superior 
in  decoration  to  the  Imari-yaki  of  the  past. 

VOL.  VIII.  — 8 IIJ 


JAPAN 

The  family  of  Fukami,  founded  by  Fukami  Obasen,  one 
of  the  Koreans  who  came  to  Japan  in  the  train  of  Hide- 
yoshi’s  generals.  — Obasen’s  descendants  have  been  engaged 
as  potters  at  Arita  ever  since  the  close  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  but  they  employed  no  marks  by  which  their  pro- 
ductions can  be  identified  until  the  time  of  Fukami  Sumi- 
no-suke,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Seiji-sha.  Sumi-no-suke 
developed  great  skill  in  the  manufacture  of  porcelain  deco- 
rated with  blue  sous  couverte.  Excellent  pieces  made  by  him 
are  to  be  found.  They  bear  the  mark  “ Made  by  Toshi- 
kian  Kiso  ” {vide  Marks  and  Seals).  He  died  in  i886,  and 
was  succeeded  by  his  younger  brother,  Fukami  Takeji. 

The  Iwayo  family,  founded  by  one  of  the  Koreans  who 
worked  with  Risampei.  — The  artists  of  this  name  appear  to 
have  engaged  chiefly  in  the  manufacture  of  middle-class 
porcelain.  The  present  representative  is  Iwao  Kanetaro. 

The  Tashiro  family,  founded  by  an  expert  of  that  name, 
about  1780.  — Its  fame  depends  chiefly  on  the  present  rep- 
resentative, Tashiro  Sukesaku,  a man  of  great  enterprise. 
He  established  a porcelain  warehouse  at  Nagasaki  in  the 
Ansei  era  (1854-1859) ; and  in  i860  he  obtained  from  the  local 
authorities  a monopoly  of  the  sale  of  Arita  wares  to  foreign 
dealers.  In  1867  Sukesaku  opened  a store  in  Shanghai, 
and  another  in  Yokohama  in  1871.  A branch  of  the  same 
family,  represented  by  Tashiro  Yasukichi,  is  also  engaged  in 
the  production  of  porcelain. 

The  Iwamatsu  family,  founded  by  Iwamatsu  Samuro 
(about  1750).  — Samuro  acquired  such  a high  repute  that 
purchasers  came  to  acquire  complete  confidence  in  his  wares, 
and  it  is  related  that  porcelain  dealers  did  not  think  it 
necessary  to  open  bales  stamped  with  his  trademark,  the 
ideograph  Iwa  within  a square.  His  factory  was  specially 
commissioned  to  manufacture  porcelain  for  the  use  of  the 
Court  in  Yedo.  The  present  representative  is  Iwamatsu 
Heizo,  an  expert  of  such  skill  that  his  pieces  may  easily  be 
mistaken  for  old  Imari-yaki,  On  choice  specimens  he  gen- 
erally writes  the  ideograph  Hei  in  gold. 

The  Setoguchi  family,  founded  by  an  artist  of  that  name, 
about  1680.  — This  family  has  long  been  noted  for  the 

114 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

decorative  skill  of  its  members.  The  present  representative 
is  Setoguchi  Tamiemon. 

The  Imaizumi  family,  founded  by  an  artist  of  that  name, 
about  1780.  — Its  members  have  always  confined  themselves 
to  the  decorative  industry.  Imaizumi  Imaemon,  who  died 
in  1871,  acquired  great  reputation  in  this  line.  The  present 
representative  is  Imaizumi  Toda. 

The  Kajiwara  family,  founded  by  an  artist  of  that  name, 
about  1680.  — Of  late  years  the  Kajiwara  experts  have  been 
famous  for  the  production  of  monster  plaques.  Kajiwara 
Kikujiro  manufactured  a plate  four  feet  in  diameter  in  1866. 
His  son,  the  present  representative,  is  scarcely  less  skilled. 

The  Fukushima  family,  founded  by  an  expert  of  that 
name,  about  1835. — This  Fukushima  is  said  to  have  manu- 
factured a plate  three  feet  in  diameter  in  1848.  His  son 
Fukushima  Kojiro,  the  present  representative,  is  reputed  to 
be  able  to  produce  plates  four  feet  in  diameter  and  bowls 
over  twenty  feet  in  circumference. 

The  families  of  Okushi,  Takeshita,  Maeda,  Iwasaki,  have 
worked  at  the  Okawachi  factories  since  the  latter  half  of  the 
last  century.  They  are  now  represented  by  Okushi  Tatsuji, 
Okushi  Moemon,  Takeshita  Shoshichi,  Maeda  Tetsuzo,  and 
Iwasaki  Kimbei,  who  produce  thick  wares  covered  with  cela- 
don glazes,  coarsely  crackled. 

The  Hayashi  family,  founded  by  Hayashi  Jin-no-suke,  a 
pupil  of  Takahara  Goroshichi  (1620).  — Eleven  generations 
have  succeeded  each  other  since  then.  In  the  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century  the  family  name  was  changed  to  Fuji, 
and  the  present  representative  is  Fuji  Shinsuke. 

The  Soejima  family,  founded  by  a Korean  potter  named 
Soejima  Unkaku,  who,  with  seventeen  other  keramists,  was 
ordered  to  settle  at  Sarayama,  in  the  district  of  Yoshida- 
mura,  about  1600.  Moemon,  son  of  Unkaku,  discovered 
porcelain  stone  at  Nashi-noki-da,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  factory,  and  Prince  Nabeshima,  by  whom  the  settlement 
of  potters  had  been  formed,  directed  that  the  newly  found 
porcelain  stone  only  should  be  used  at  the  factory,  and  that 
the  number  of  potters  should  be  strictly  limited  to  eighteen. 
Moemon,  the  discoverer,  was  appointed  keramist  to  the 


JAPAN 

Prince’s  house.  The  wares  produced  at  this  period  were  not, 
however,  of  first-rate  quality.  It  was  not  till  the  Gembun  era 
(1736-1741)  that  Soejima  Jirobei,  grandson  of  Unkaku,  by 
mixing  local  materials  with  porcelain  stone  from  Amakusa, 
succeeded  in  manufacturing  choice  specimens.  In  1840  the 
representative  of  the  family  was  Soejima  Kaneyuki.  He 
acquired  considerable  reputation  by  introducing  improved 
methods  of  kiln  building.  The  present  representative  is 
Soejima  Risaburo.  In  1878  he  found,  at  Daikokugen  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  pottery,  a porcelain  stone  similar  to  that 
of  Amakusa,  and  the  workmen  were  thus  saved  the  expense 
of  procuring  their  materials  from  so  great  a distance.  Two 
years  later  Risaburo  formed  an  association  called  the  Seisei- 
sha.  Hitherto,  for  some  unexplained  reason,  the  manufac- 
ture of  large  pieces  had  been  forbidden  to  the  potters  of 
Yoshida-mura,  but,  this  restriction  being  now  removed, 
plaques  three  feet  in  diameter  and  other  important  speci- 
mens began  to  be  produced.  Two  other  descendants  of 
Soejima  Unkaku  are  also  engaged  in  the  potter’s  trade. 
The  first  is  Soejima  Rinzo,  whose  ancestor,  a son  of  Un- 
kaku, opened  a pottery  in  the  Kuan-ei  era  (1624-1643) ; the 
second  is  Soejima  Jisaku,  whose  father,  Moemon,  flourished 
from  1830  to  1843.  Moemon  acquired  a name  for  his  skill 
in  manufacturing  blue-and-white  porcelain  after  the  Chinese 
style.  He  used  to  sell  much  of  this  ware  to  Chinese  mer- 
chants in  Nagasaki.  His  work  obtained  such  popularity 
that  his  feudal  chief  gave  him  the  artist  name  of  Un- 
getsu,  with  which  he  thenceforth  marked  his  best  pieces. 

Considering  the  circumstances  of  the  development  of 
the  porcelain  industry  in  Hizen,  the  student  expects  to  find 
that  representatives  of  the  same  family  of  potters  worked 
at  different  factories.  The  story  of  the  Odashi  potteries  illus- 
trates this.  In  1598  Nabeshima  Naoshige,  feudal  chief  of 
Hizen,  caused  a number  of  Koreans  to  settle  in  the  Odashi 
district.  They  opened  kilns  at  Shirakiwara  and  Kamezo, 
the  traces  of  which  are  still  to  be  seen.  Other  Koreans,  who 
had  settled  in  the  neighbouring  district  of  Hakama-no,  co- 
operated in  the  work.  The  wares  then  produced  were  pot- 
tery or  stone-ware,  and  the  potters  appear  to  have  led  a very 

1 16 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

struggling  existence.  I n the  Kyoho  era  ( 1 7 1 6— 1 73  5),  however, 
at  the  neighbouring  factory  of  Yumi-no-yama  porcelain 
was  manufactured.  It  was  distinguished  by  the  term 
Nankin-yakiy  as  opposed  to  Nami-yaki  (common  ware),  the 
name  applied  to  pottery.  The  Yumino  factory  was  then 
under  the  superintendence  of  Fuji  Magoemon  of  the 
Hayashi  family  {vide  supra,  “ Hayashi  family who  also 
directed  the  Odashi  works.  Magoemon,  in  conjunction 
with  Mizoguchi,  Ichibei,  and  Takada  Tobei,  attempted 
to  introduce  the  manufacture  of  porcelain  at  the  Odashi 
kilns.  It  is  recorded  that  he  did  not  succeed,  but  the 
failure  was  only  temporary,  since  in  the  year  1804  the 
Odashi  potters  were  ofEcially  directed  to  produce  both  por- 
celain and  pottery  for  the  use  of  the  Nabeshima  house. 
Owing  to  some  unascertained  reason,  the  factory  subsequently 
experienced  such  vicissitudes  that  it  had  almost  ceased  to  be 
a centre  of  production  when,  in  1827,  Higuchi  Chikaharu 
{vide  “ Higuchi  family  '’)  of  the  Mikawachi  factory,  Fuji 
Tsunekata,  and  others  opened  a new  kiln,  the  present  one, 
and  restored  the  business  to  considerable  prosperity.  Chi- 
kaharu, a distinguished  expert,  was  officially  appointed  potter 
to  the  house  of  Nabeshima.  About  1835  retired  from 
business  in  favour  of  his  younger  brother  Harutaka,  whose 
reputation  was  not  inferior  to  that  of  Chikaharu.  Another 
member  of  the  same  family,  Higuchi  Shinkichi,  is  also 
mentioned  in  conjunction  with  Harutaka  and  Tsunetaka  as 
an  enterprising  and  skilled  potter.  These  men  rebuilt  one 
of  the  ruined  kilns  of  the  district,  and  gave  it  the  name  of 
Furu-nobori.  In  1873  one  of  the  Odashi  potters,  Matsuo 
Kisaburo,  became  known  as  a decorative  expert.  This 
Kisaburo  had  been  for  nineteen  years  a pupil  of  Higuchi 
Harutaka.  Subsequently  he  abandoned  the  keramic  indus- 
try and  became  a merchant. ' Resuming  his  original  profession 
in  1869,  he  found  that  the  wares  of  Odashi  had  fallen  into 
great  disrepute,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  clay  used  in  the 
construction  of  the  kilns  was  incapable  of  resisting  a high 
temperature.  After  many  experiments  he  discovered  clay 
suitable  for  kiln  building  in  the  district  of  Shitayado.  He 
also  effected  a great  economy  by  mixing  with  this  clay  the 

117 


JAPAN 

stone  of  Uchino,  instead  of  that  imported  from  Amakusa, 
and  by  devising  a mechanical  method  of  tracing  decorative 
designs.  The  design  was  cut  in  paper,  and  the  latter  being 
laid  on  the  surface  of  the  porcelain,  a few  strokes  of  the 
brush  sufficed  to  transfer  the  picture.  Fortunately  for 
Japanese  keramic  art  this  degrading  device  is  confined  to  the 
manufacture  of  common  utensils. 

A distinguished  pupil  of  Fuji  Tsunetaka  was  another 
member  of  the  Higuchi  family,  Higuchi  Chuzaemon.  After 
twenty  years  of  apprenticeship  he  was  entrusted  (circa  1840) 
by  Tsunetaka  with  the  manufacture  of  wares  for  official  use. 
In  1840  the  feudal  prince  of  Hizen  caused  a private  kiln  to 
be  built  within  the  precincts  of  his  castle,  and  placed  it  under 
the  control  of  Chuzaemon.  Many  excellent  pieces  were 
manufactured  at  this  factory.  In  1886  Chuzaemon  succeeded 
Fuji  Tsunetaka  in  the  control  of  the  Odashi  workshops,  and 
was  himself  succeeded  by  his  son  Higuchi  Heibei,  who  now 
carries  on  the  industry.  Heibei  and  his  associates  built, 
some  years  ago,  a new  and  improved  kiln  at  Higashi-yama. 

Other  experts  whose  names  deserve  to  be  recorded  are  as 
follows  : Urakawa  Yoemon,  who  lived  in  the  Tempo  era 

(1830-1843).  He  restored  to  some  degree  of  prosperity  the 
factory  of  Nishiyama.  His  wares  were  widely  sold  under 
the  name  of  Toemon-yaki^  but  their  quality  was  not  sufficiently 
fine  to  entitle  them  to  a high  place  among  Hizen  wares. 

Nakashima  Nobunari,  a man  of  gentle  birth,  who  in  1869 
discovered  porcelain  stone  at  Fujiwara  and  established  a 
factory  there. 

Tanaka,  Eiichi,  a potter  of  Sarayama,  in  the  Shirakabe 
district.  Dissatisfied  with  the  materials  used  at  the  factory, 
Tanaka,  after  much  search,  succeeded  in  finding  good  porce- 
lain stone  at  Taohi-ishi,- and  subsequently  formed  an  associa- 
tion called  the  Kydryoku-'KaishOy  in  1884. 

Special  mention  must  be  made  of  a factory  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Nagasaki  called  Kame-yama. 
There  are  various  traditions  with  respect  to  the  origin 
of  this  factory.  Some  say  that  it  was  due  to  official 
inception ; others  that  it  was  purely  a private  enter- 

118 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

prise.  All  accounts  agree,  however,  in  fixing  the 
date  of  its  opening  at  about  1803.  The  idea  of 
undertaking  the  manufacture  of  porcelain  in  this 
place  was  doubtless  suggested  by  the  vicinity  of  the 
island  of  Amakusa  — whence  porcelain  stone  of  ex- 
cellent quality  was  obtainable  — and  by  the  accessi- 
bility of  the  Nagasaki  market.  The  first  potter  was 
Okami  Jingoro,  a citizen  of  Nagasaki.  The  style 
inaugurated  by  him  and  followed  by  his  successors 
was  that  of  the  Chinese  blue-and-white  porcelain. 
The  ware  speedily  attained  popularity,  owing  to  the 
skill  of  the  artists  engaged  in  decorating  it.  Painters 
of  reputation  were  easily  procurable  in  Nagasaki. 
Okami  availed  himself  of  their  services,  with  the  re- 
sult that  many  of  the  Kame-yama  porcelains  show 
admirable  artistic  decoration.  Okami  Jingoro  was 
succeeded  by  Okami  Buhei,  who  died  in  1839,  his 
successor  being  Okami  Jingoro  (the  second).  The 
last-named  potter  did  not  work  long  at  Kame-yama, 
He  abandoned  the  enterprise  in  1846  and  moved  to 
Nawashiro-gawa,  in  Satsuma,  where  he  died  in  1878. 
An  attempt  to  revive  the  industry  was  made  in  1872 
by  Kamei  Sahei,  a potter  of  Arita.  He  built  an  ex- 
ceptionally fine  kiln,  and  baked  two  or  three  batches 
of  porcelain,  but,  the  ware  proving  of  inferior  quality, 
he  sustained  heavy  loss  and  gave  up  the  attempt. 
The  Jingoro  family  marked  their  pieces.  They 
used  Amakusa  stone  in  the  manufacture  of  their  pdte^ 
mixing  with  it  ash  procured  from  Satsuma.  Glazing 
material  was  obtained  at  Daishd-mura  and  Haryo  in 
Hizen.  In  addition  to  porcelain,  a curious  kind  of 
pottery  was  also  made  at  Kame-yama.  It  was  manu- 
factured from  the  covers  of  earthenware  wine  jars, 
numbers  of  which,  filled  with  liquor,  came  to  Naga- 

119 


JAPAN 

saki  from  the  province  of  Szechuen,  in  China.  Such 
pieces  were  marked  Made  at  Kame-yama  with  clay 
from  Soshu  in  China.” 

It  is  on  the  enamelled  porcelains  of  Imari  and 
Nabeshima  that  Japan’s  keramic  reputation  rests 
with  the  majority  of  Western  collectors.  These 
wares  alone  were  exported  in  the  days  when  the  for- 
eign trade  of  the  country  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
Dutch.  Much  of  the  Imari  porcelain  owed  its  manu- 
facture entirely  to  European  demand,  and  its  decora- 
tive motives  were  modified  to  suit  European  taste. 
Its  most  characteristic  features  being  brilliancy  and 
decorative  effect,  large,  imposing  pieces  were  chiefly 
sought  after,  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  nearly  all 
the  specimens  preserved  in  European  collections 
under  the  name  of  ‘‘  Old  Japan,”  are  either  jars 
with  covers,  tall  vases  with  spreading  necks  — the 
so-called  ‘‘  trumpet-shaped  vases  ” — beakers,  gourd- 
shaped vases,  or  plaques.  Probably  the  finest  examples 
are  to  be  seen  in  the  Dresden  collection  and  the 
Palace  in  Madrid.  Solidity,  a useful  quality  for  pur- 
poses of  export,  and  profuse  ornamentation  accom- 
plished at  a minimum  of  cost,  being  prescribed  by 
the  Dutch  merchants,  this  “ Old  Japan  ” did  not 
convey  a just  idea  of  either  the  Japanese  keramist’s 
technical  skill  or  the  Japanese  connoisseur’s  natural 
taste.  M.  du  Sartel,  in  his  work  “ La  Porcelaine  de 
Chine,”  judging  by  the  majority  of  examples  pre- 
served in  great  collections,  says  that  its  shapes  were 
generally  heavy  and  inelegant ; that  its  paste  was 
thick,  with  little  transparency  and  of  doubtful  white- 
ness ; that  its  glaze  was  greyish,  or  slightly  tinged  with 
greenish  blue ; that  the  decoration  consisted,  for  the 
most  part,  of  designs  in  impure,  dark  blue  sous  cou- 

120 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

verte^  and  polychromatic  painting  over  the  glaze,  the 
principal  colours  of  the  latter  being  red  and  gold, 
with  very  exceptional  additions  of  black,  and  still 
rarer  touches  of  dull  yellow  and  enamel  green;  and 
that  the  subjects  were  seldom  more  varied  than  the 
colours,  being  limited  to  bamboos,  pines,  large  peony 
and  chrysanthemum  flowers  growing  stiffly  from 
rocks,  symbolical  animals,  birds,  butterflies,  and  per- 
sonages apparently  suspended  in  the  air,  with  the 
addition  of  rough  reliefs  and  rudimentary  reticula- 
tion. Messrs.  Audsley  and  Bowes,  also,  speaking  of 
the  Dresden  collection,  say  with  true  instinct : 
‘‘  One  is  somewhat  at  a loss  while  examining  these 
works  to  account  for  their  markedly  peculiar  artistic 
treatment,  — a treatment  that  the  student  of  Japanese 
art  would  scarcely  be  prepared  to  pronounce  strictly 
natural.  They  are  ancient,  certainly,  and  of  neces- 
sity present  art  thoughts  of  schools  long  passed  away ; 
but  making  full  allowance  for  this,  one  cannot  help 
asking  if  there  could  have  been  an  external  influence 
at  work  which  modified  their  artists’  national  taste. 
Jacquemart  mentions  that  the  Dutch  exercised  a con- 
siderable influence  over  the  porcelain  manufacture 
of  Japan.  ...  If  such  was  the  case,  the  difficulties 
of  the  student  disappear.  This  theory  certainly  has 
probability  on  its  side ; and  the  lavish  richness  of 
much  of  the  ware,  in  many  cases  absolutely  over- 
crowded with  ornamentation,  tends  to  prove  its 
truth.”  These  writers  unfortunately  mar  the  sound- 
ness of  the  above  judgment  by  depicting  in  their 
plates  and  describing  as  ‘‘a  type  in  which  Japanese 
treatment  is  most  marked,”  a triple-gourd-shaped  vase 
which  is  in  every  sense  an  offensive  monstrosity  and  in 
no  sense  true  to  Japanese  canons.  The  plain  fact  is 

I2I 


JAPAN 

that  it  fared  alike  with  the  Japanese  in  ancient  and 
in  modern  times : by  attempting  to  adapt  themselves 
to  the  requirements  of  foreign  markets,  they  outraged 
their  instincts  and  injured  their  reputation.  Imari 
porcelain  manufactured  for  use  in  Japan  was  of  very 
different  quality  and  style.  It  consisted  nearly  en- 
tirely of  plates,  bowls,  cups  with  or  without  covers, 
dishes,  ewers,  bottles,  and  so  forth,  flower-vases  and 
ornamental  pieces  being  the  exception.  Many  of 
these  utensils,  as  may  well  be  supposed,  were  com- 
paratively coarse  and  crudely  decorated.  But  many 
were  excellent  in  every  respect,  — fineness  of  pate^ 
lustre,  tone,  and  uniformity  of  glaze,  brilliancy  and 
purity  of  enamels,  tasteful  conception  and  delicate 
execution  of  decorative  designs.  They  had  thicker 
biscuit  and  a character  generally  more  solid  than 
choice  Chinese  porcelains,  but  on  the  whole  they 
could  claim  superiority  to  the  latter  in  beauty  of  deco- 
rative conception,  while  they  certainly  were  little  if 
at  all  inferior  in  skill  and  care  of  execution.  Setting 
aside  any  question  as  to  whether  the  Arita  decorator 
borrowed  his  subjects  from  other  branches  of  his 
country’s  art  industry  or  conceived  them  himself,  the 
connoisseur  cannot  hesitate  to  admit  that  his  range 
and  wealth  of  fancy  were  remarkable.  From  this 
point  of  view  he  excelled  his  Chinese  rival.  For 
whereas  the  latter’s  field  of  subjects  was  so  narrow 
that  he  rang  the  changes  on  them  with  tiresome 
iteration,  the  former  scarcely  repeated  himself  at  all. 
One  may  collect  — or  rather  might  once  have  col- 
lected— thousands  of  old  Imari  specimens  — usually 
sets  of  five,  ten,  or  twenty  pieces  — no  two  of  which 
are  exactly  alike,  and  though  they  necessarily  vary  in 
degrees  of  technical  and  artistic  excellence,  every  one 

122 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

of  them  shows  some  charming  feature.  It  need 
scarcely  be  said  that  the  choicest  are  always  painted 
with  extreme  care,  their  enamels  pure  and  brilliant, 
their  blue  sous  couverte  rich  and  clear,  their  red  soft, 
uniform,  and  solid.  The  history  of  the  world  tells  of 
no  people  whose  utensils  for  eating  purposes  were  so 
refined  and  ornamental  as  the  Imari  services  of 
the  Japanese.  By  these,  not  by  the  ‘‘Old  Japan’’ 
of  eighteenth-century  Europe,  the  ware  should  be 
judged.  Since  the  opening  of  the  country  in  1857 
much  finer  examples  have  been  sent  westward  than 
those  exported  by  the  Dutch,  but  the  reputation  of 
the  latter  still  survives  and  prevents  Imari-yaki  from 
occupying  its  proper  place  in  Western  esteem. 

Although  the  Dutch  factory  at  Deshima  confined 
its  purchases  of  Hizen  porcelain  chiefly  to  profusely 
ornamented  and  comparatively  rough  pieces,  specially 
designed  for  sale  abroad,  specimens  of  the  much 
chaster  and  more  delicate  Nabeshima  ware  were  also 
shipped  to  Europe  in  small  numbers.  In  two  striking 
respects  this  Nabeshima-yaki  differed  from  the  ware  of 
Imari,  the  so-called  “ Old  Japan.”  In  the  first  place, 
its  glaze,  instead  of  being  pervaded  by  a more  or  less 
marked  tinge  of  bluish  green,  was  of  the  purest  milk- 
white,  soft  and  restful  in  tone.  This  feature  consti- 
tuted one  of  the  chief  and  most  easily  detected  points 
of  superiority  in  Nabeshima  porcelain,  and  the  im- 
portance of  the  distinction  should  be  carefully  noted. 
It  is  more  marked  in  porcelain  decorated  entirely  with 
enamels  over  the  glaze  than  in  the  variety  where  blue 
sous  couverte  also  occurs,  but  in  both  classes  milky 
whiteness  of  surface  is  a test  at  once  of  origin  and  of 
quality.  In  the  second  place,  blue  under  the  glaze, 
which  always  enters  largely  into  the  decoration  of 

123 


JAPAN 

Imari  ware,  is  either  relegated  to  a secondary  rank  in 
Nabeshima  porcelain  or  does  not  appear  at  all.  The 
specimens  sent  to  Europe  by  the  Dutch  traders  in  the 
early  days  seem  to  have  been  principally,  if  not  alto- 
gether, of  the  latter  class ; that  is  to  say,  their  deco- 
ration consisted  entirely  of  enamels  over  the  glaze. 
Differing  essentially  from  the  familiar  ‘‘  Old  Japan,” 
this  porcelain  greatly  perplexed  European  amateurs  of 
later  times.  M.  du  Sartefs  description  of  the  ware, 
as  known  to  Western  collectors,  and  of  the  confused 
ideas  prevailing  about  it,  is  interesting.  “ These  por- 
celains,” he  writes,  ‘‘  remarkable  for  their  fine  ivory- 
white  pdtCy  always  soberly  decorated  with  paintings 
executed  in  colours,  the  ensemble  of  which,  blue  under 
the  glaze  being  absolutely  excepted,  is  identical  with 
what  one  finds  on  choice  products  of  the  Hizen  fac- 
tories, have  been  variously  judged  by  the  keramists 
whose  attention  they  have  attracted.  If  we  may 
credit  some  connoisseurs,  they  are  almost  as  ancient 
as  the  first  porcelains  that  made  their  appearance  in 
China,  and  while  certain  persons  still  attribute  them 
to  Japan,  others  think  that  they  are  due  to  Korean 
keramics,  although  no  other  ware  of  similar  nature  is 
recognised  as  belonging  to  Korea.  It  would  neces- 
sarily result  from  the  latter  view  that  the  Korean 
potters  limited  themselves  to  this  solitary  and  unique 
variety,  made  no  one  can  tell  where,  at  an  epoch  not 
determined,  and  exported  by  unknown  hands  in  an 
unascertained  manner.  . . . This  variety,  the  cause 
of  so  much  controversy,  is  tolerably  rare  to-day. 
It  is  usually  found  only  in  incomplete  specimens 
of  little  importance,  often  garnished  with  ancient 
mountings,  of  which  some,  in  silver  gilt,  bear  wit- 
ness to  the  value  set  on  the  ware  of  the  last  century. 

124 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

This  was  the  porcelain  that  our  faience-makers  first 
imitated,  and  after  them  the  potters  of  France,  Eng- 
land, and  specially  of  Saxony,  where  reproductions  so 
perfect  are  made  that  one  must  be  a clever  connoisseur 
to  avoid  occasional  deception.  These  porcelains,  so- 
called  Korean,  were  the  first  brought  from  Japan  by  the 
Dutch,  but  the  arrivals  seem  to  have  ceased  at  the  end 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  so  that  specimens  were 
formerly  much  sought  after  by  connoisseurs,  in  whose 
collections  they  occupied  an  important  place  under 
the  designation  of  ancienne  premiere  qualite  color ie  du 
yapon.  Here  is  what  Juillot  said  of  them  in  his  de- 
scriptive catalogue  of  Oriental  porcelains,  forming  part 
of  the  collection  of  M.  Randon  de  Boisset,  which  was 
sold  in  1777:  ‘The  late  M.  Randon  de  Boisset, 
gifted  with  delicate  and  severe  taste,  collected  capital 
pieces  of  different  varieties,  above  all  of  ancient  Japa- 
nese porcelain  called  premiere  qualite  colorie,  for  which, 
as  a true  connoisseur,  he  had  a great  predilection. 
This  porcelain,  the  composition  of  which  is  entirely 
lost,  has  always  attracted  the  attention  of  amateurs  by 
the  fine  texture  of  its  beautiful  white  pate,  the  seduc- 
tive softness  of  its  rouge  mat,  the  velvet-like  character  of 
its  soft  yet  brilliant  green  and  deep  blue  colours.  Such 
is  the  veritable  and  recognised  merit  of  this  porcelain, 
so  that  all  choice  collections  have  been  and  are  com- 
posed of  it,  which  alone  is  a sufficient  eulogy/  ” It 
need  scarcely  be  said  that  M.  Juillot  is  entirely  mis- 
taken in  supposing  that  the  art  of  manufacturing  the 
pate  of  the  Nabeshima  porcelain  had  been  lost  before 
the  time  (1777)  of  his  dictum.  Neither  is  there  any 
sufficient  reason  to  credit  M.  du  Sartefs  conclusion 
that  the  import  of  such  ware  ceased  at  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  The  history  of  its  manufacture 

125 


JAPAN 

shows  that  it  was  always  produced  in  limited  quanti- 
ties, and  that  it  was  not  offered  for  sale  in  the  open 
market.  The  Dutch  doubtless  exported  it  when- 
ever they  could  obtain  specimens,  but  their  instinct 
as  active  traders  induced  them  to  turn  rather  to  the 
Arita  factories,  the  more  plentiful  outcome  of  which 
offered  a larger  field,  while  the  amenability  of  the 
potters  to  foreign  suggestions  made  them  convenient 
to  deal  with.  It  should  be  observed  also  that  the 
superiority  ascribed  by  European  connoisseurs  to  the 
Nabeshima  enamels  has  no  foundation  in  fact.  In 
brilliancy,  purity,  variety,  and  accuracy  of  application, 
the  enamels  of  choice  Imari  specimens  have  never 
been  surpassed.  ‘‘  Old  Japan,’'  with  its  masses  of 
blurred,  impure  blue  sous  couverte^  and  its  dominant 
red  and  gold  above  the  glaze,  must  not  be  taken  as  a 
type  of  the  decorative  or  technical  skill  developed  at 
Arita.  First-class  examples  of  Imari-yaki  stand  on  a 
wholly  different  plane.  For  the  clearer  guidance  of 
amateurs,  the  enamels  generally  found  on  the  finest 
pieces  may  be  recapitulated  here.  First  among  them 
is  purple,  a peculiar  amethyst-like  tinge,  verging  upon 
lilac.  Then  comes  opaque,  yet  lustrous  green,  the 
colour  of  young  onion-sprouts, — a beautiful  enamel, 
much  prized  by  the  Japanese,  who  called  it  tampan 
(sulphate  of  copper).  Then  follows  turquoise  blue, 
and  finally  black,  the  last,  however,  being  exceptional. 
Add  to  these,  red,  grass-green,  gold  and  blue  {sous  cou- 
verte)y  and  the  palette  alike  of  the  Arita  and  the  Nabe- 
shima keramists  is  exhausted.  Neither  factory  can 
claim  to  have  excelled  the  other  in  the  preparation 
and  application  of  enamels.  The  one  difference  is 
that  the  Arita  potter,  with  true  artistic  instinct, 
employed  stronger  masses  of  colour  and  more  profuse 

126 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

decoration  to  relieve  the  impure  white  of  his  por- 
celain field,  whereas  the  Nabeshima  keramist  made 
his  milk-white  glaze  a distinctive  feature  and  subordi- 
nated the  decoration  to  this  special  excellence.  Argu- 
ing from  the  fact  that  the  progress  of  the  keramic 
art  at  Arita  and  Okawachi  was  on  the  whole  uniform, 
the  amateur  will  be  prepared  to  learn  that  the  earliest 
Nabeshima  porcelains  exhibited  the  same  paucity  of 
enamels  as  their  Imari  contemporaries ; red,  gold, 
green,  and  light  blue  (over  the  glaze)  were  the  colours 
chiefly  employed.  Purple,  yellow,  and  the  other 
enamels  enumerated  above,  seem  to  have  come  into 
use  from  the  close  of  the  seventeenth,  or  the  beginning 
of  the  eighteenth  century. 

Seeing  that  blue  under  the  glaze  played  such  a 
large  role  at  the  Arita  factories,  the  student  is  led  to  an- 
ticipate that  porcelain  showing  decoration  of  this  class 
only  would  be  common  among  specimens  of  ancient 
Imari-yaku  But  in  truth  very  few  large  examples 
of  Old  Japanese  blue-and-white  are  to  be  found.  In 
plates,  bowls,  sake  bottles,  and  other  household  utensils, 
pieces  of  great  beauty  are  sometimes  found,  the  blue 
of  which  is  scarcely  inferior  to  the  richest  colour  ob- 
tained by  the  potters  of  the  Middle  Kingdom.  This 
is  especially  true  of  the  Goku-hin-yaki,  With  the  ex- 
ception of  such  classes,  however,  blue  sous  couverte  is 
almost  invariably  associated  with  enamel  decoration. 
Ewers  for  placing  outside  or  on  a verandah,  flower- 
pots, and  dishes  make  up  the  total  of  large  blue-and- 
white  specimens,  and  it  will  be  understood  that 
keramists  seldom  put  their  best  work  into  such 
pieces.  Big  pots  with  covers  — called  in  Japan  Jlnuo 
(dust  vessels) — so  many  of  which  do  duty  as  the 
highest  types  of  ‘‘Old  Japan’'  in  European  collec- 

127 


JAPAN 

tions,  sometimes  have  designs  in  blue  sous  couverte 
only ; but  the  inferior  quality  of  their  pate  and  glaze, 
and  the  muddy  tone  of  their  blue  are  fatal  blemishes. 
It  is  to  the  products  of  the  Hirado  workshops  that 
the  connoisseur  must  go  for  the  best  and  most  valu- 
able examples  of  Old  Japanese  blue-and- white.  He 
will  there  find  close  fine  biscuit,  pure  white  glaze, 
and  blue  which,  if  not  so  deep  or  strong  as  the  most 
esteemed  Chinese  colour,  is  of  unsurpassed  delicacy 
and  aesthetic  beauty.  During  the  comparatively  short 
period  of  its  existence  the  Kame-yama  factory,  near 
Nagasaki,  turned  out  many  fairly  good  pieces  of  blue- 
and- white,  essentially  of  the  plate-and-bowl  type.  But 
the  connoisseur  should  not  experience  any  difficulty  in 
distinguishing  these,  for,  as  compared  with  Imari  ware, 
their  pate,  though  free  from  grit,  is  more  chalky,  their 
glaze  even  less  pure  in  tone,  and  their  blue  colour 
emphatically  wanting  in  richness  and  body.  It  is 
further  to  be  observed  that  the  decorative  designs  on 
Imari  blue-and-white  porcelain  were  nearly  always  of 
the  formal  type,  as  diapers,  scrolls,  and  so  forth, 
whereas  the  subjects  taken  by  the  Hirado  potters 
were  chiefly  pictorial,  — landscapes,  trees,  figures,  and 
flowers. 

Neither  at  Arita  nor  at  Okawachi  was  the  art  of 
producing  crackle  successfully  practised  by  the  porce- 
lain manufacturers.  Yet  in  old  pieces  of  Imari  ware, 
both  enamelled  and  blue-and-white,  craquele  is  some- 
times found.  The  pate  of  such  specimens  is  always 
much  softer  than  ordinary  porcelain  biscuit : it  was 
evidently  a special  mixture  of  clays.  But  there  is  no 
evidence  to  show  whether  the  object  of  thus  mixing 
different  varieties  of  material  was  to  produce  crackle, 
or  whether  the  composition,  and  therefore  also  the 

128 


WARES  OF  HIZEN 

crackle,  resulted  from  accident.  At  all  events,  the 
shape  and  size  of  the  crackle  were  not  under  control 
as  in  China.  It  usually  appears  as  a series  of  fissures, 
following  no  regular  order,  which  can  scarcely  have 
been  regarded  as  an  addition  to  the  beauty  of  the 
porcelain  by  its  original  manufacturers,  though  some 
modern  connoisseurs  are  pleased  to  view  it  in  that 
light.  The  craquele  celadon^  of  which  quantities  now 
appear  in  the  market  under  the  name  of  Hizen-yakiy 
is  a recent  manufacture. 

Great  as  is  the  progress  made  of  late  by  the  Arita 
potters,  their  method  of  preparing  and  applying  vitri- 
fiable  enamels  is  still  separated  by  a considerable  in- 
terval from  the  skill  of  their  predecessors  of  feudal 
times.  It  is  to  this  point  before  all  others  that  the 
instructed  connoisseur  will  look.  Daubing  the  surface 
of  porcelain  with  perishable  pigments  and  jewelling 
it  with  enamels  that  retain  their  fulness  and  lustre 
after  decades  of  wear  and  tear,  are  two  wholly  dif- 
ferent grades  of  technique.  The  former  is  the  brum- 
magem of  keramics,  inspired  by  purely  mercantile 
instincts.  Those  whose  eyes  have  become  accus- 
tomed to  the  beautiful  porcelains  of  the  Orient  with 
their  imperishable  pictures  in  brilliant  yet  soft  en- 
amels or  blue  under  the  glaze,  can  never  again  look 
without  disgust  at  the  productions  of  that  hybrid 
branch  of  Western  art  which  smears  upon  the  surface 
of  porcelain  dull,  lustreless  paints,  adapted  only  to 
canvas  or  paper,  and  incapable  of  resisting  any  of  the 
cleansing  processes  to  which  vessels  in  every-day  use 
must  of  necessity  be  subjected.  In  the  scramble  for 
food  that,  thirty  years  ago,  replaced  the  quiet,  com- 
fortable life  of  patronised  competence  hitherto  led  by 
Japanese  artist  artisans,  a tendency  to  resort  to  what- 

voL.  VIII.  — 9 129 


JAPAN 

ever  devices  gave  cheap,  speedy,  and  temporarily 
striking  results  was  developed  with  unfortunate  fa- 
cility. Against  this  the  genius  of  the  country  soon 
revolted,  though  the  conditions  that  led  to  such  a de- 
parture from  true  canons  remained  almost  unaltered. 
About  the  year  1880  a renaissance  slowly  set  in,  and 
judging  by  the  ground  which  the  Japanese  keramist 
has  already  recovered,  it  is  evident  that  he  needs  only 
an  intelligent  and  liberal  public  to  climb  once  more 
to  the  heights  of  excellence  on  which  he  once  stood. 
In  no  respect  is  this  return  to  wholesome  fashions 
more  marked  than  in  the  use  of  vitrifiable  enamels. 
These  have  not  only  replaced  pigments  in  great  part, 
but  begin  also  to  show  much  of  their  ancient  bril- 
liancy and  purity.  Some  of  the  Arita  potters  devote 
themselves  to  tours  de  force  sufficiently  remarkable. 
They  manufacture  enormous  plaques,  huge  vases,  and 
pedestal  lamps,  nine  or  ten  feet  high,  for  placing  in 
Japanese  gardens.  These  are,  perhaps,  legitimate  ex- 
ercises of  skill  where  the  materials  employed  are  not 
sufficiently  fine  for  the  production  of  small  choice 
specimens. 


130 


Chapter  III 

WARES  OF  SAT  SUM  A [KAGOSHIMA 
PREFECTURE) 

During  two  centuries  Japan’s  keramic 
reputation  in  Europe  rested  chiefly  on  the 
enamelled  porcelains  of  Arita,  the  ‘‘Old 
Japan  ” of  European  collectors.  Had  the 
beautiful  blue-and-white  ware  of  Hirado,  or  the 
chastely  decorated  masterpieces  of  the  Kakiemon 
school^  found  their  way  westward  in  any  quantity, 
they  might  have  compelled  admiration  after  a time. 
Y et  when  it  is  remembered  that  the  striking  brilliancy 
of  the  grand  Chinese  blues  failed,  until  quite  recently, 
to  excite  the  enthusiasm  of  Occidental  connoisseurs,  it 
becomes  easy  to  understand  how  the  less  eflFective  and 
more  aesthetic  porcelains  of  Hirado  remain  even  to  this 
day  without  due  recognition.  In  early  times  the 
Dutch  traders  stood  between  Europe  and  Japan.  They 
were  the  medium  through  which  a reflection  of  Jap- 
anese art  had  to  be  transmitted.  But  the  Dutch,  being 
practical  merchants,  thought  less  of  educating  new 
tastes  than  of  catering  for  those  that  already  existed. 
They  did  not  export  Hirado  blue-and-white,  because, 
in  the  first  place,  it  was  scarcely  procurable,  and,  in 
the  second,  they  understood  nothing  of  its  beauties. 
They  did  not  largely  export  porcelains  of  the  Kakie- 
mon genre,  because  a style  so  simple  was  incapable  of 


131 


' See  Appendix,  note  4. 


JAPAN 

appealing  to  vulgar  fancy.  They  were  not  even  con- 
tent to  export  the  more  richly  enamelled  porcelain 
of  the  Chinese  school,  until  the  profusion  of  its  deco- 
ration had  been  still  further  increased  at  their  bidding. 
Thus,  in  the  end,  the  Japanese  ware  that  came  into 
the  hands  of  European  collectors  was  neither  purely 
Japanese  nor  purely  Chinese,  but  a compound  of  both, 
with  a considerable  admixture  of  foreign  conceits. 
The  decorative  fashions  of  this  ‘‘  Old  Japan  ’’  were  as 
inconsistent  with  the  art  instincts  of  the  country  of  its 
origin  as  the  shapes  in  which  it  was  manufactured  for 
export  — five  or  three  pieces,  beakers  and  jars,  en  suite 
— were  unserviceable  in  Japanese  houses.  Nothing 
was  known  for  a long  time  of  Japan's  workers  in 
pottery  and  faience,  though  it  was  unquestionably  in 
these  branches  of  their  art  that  her  keramists  gave 
most  untrammelled  play  to  their  native  genius,  pro- 
ducing pieces  of  the  greatest  beauty  and  quaintness. 
Europe  did  not  really  discover  its  ignorance  until  the 
Paris  Exposition  of  1867.  The  discovery  might  have 
been  made  sooner.  Several  years  previously  Sir  Ru- 
therford Alcock,  British  Representative  at  the  Court  of 
Japan,  had  sent  to  the  London  Exhibition  a collection 
that  ought  to  have  opened  the  eyes  of  connoisseurs. 
But  from  some  inexplicable  cause  these  admirable  speci- 
mens, selected  with  judgment  and  under  exceptionally 
favourable  circumstances  by  the  English  connoisseur, 
only  served  as  a feeble  prelude  to  the  effect  produced 
by  the  Paris  exhibits.  In  1867,  at  last,  people  became 
aware  that  the  Porcelaine  des  Indes  a jleurs^^  the 
richly  decorated  ^^famille  Chrysanthemo-Tceonienney^  on 
which  alone  Japan's  keramic  reputation  had  hitherto 
depended,  was  in  truth  but  one  among  a multitude  of 
charming  productions,  and  that  the  pottery  and  fai- 

132 


WARES  OF  SATSUMA 

ence  of  this  land  of  artists  merited  even  more  attention 
than  its  porcelains. 

In  the  field  thus  newly  opened  to  Western  col- 
lectors, the  first  place  has  by  common  consent  been 
assigned  to  the  faience  of  Satsuma.  In  decorative 
excellence  other  wares  of  Japan  equal  and  even  excel 
this  beautiful  faience,  but  in  combined  softness  and 
richness  it  has  no  peer.  So  fully  have  its  merits  been 
recognised  that  no  American  or  European  collection 
of  Oriental  objects  of  virtu  is  deemed  complete  unless 
it  contains  a specimen  of  Satsuma-yaki.  It  must, 
however,  be  added  that  few  Western  collections  con- 
tain a really  representative  specimen.  That  faience  of 
a brilliantly  decorative,  and  at  the  same  time  artistic, 
nature  has  been  exported  in  considerable  quantities  to 
Europe  and  America  during  the  past  thirty  years,  under 
the  name  of  Satsuma-yaki,  is  unquestionable.  Unques- 
tionable, also,  is  the  fact  that  from  1880  Japanese 
decorators,  inspired  by  the  demands  of  the  American 
market,  succeeded  in  imitating  ‘‘Old  Satsuma”  with 
much  fidelity.  But  in  one  essential  particular  this 
modern  ware  differs  from  the  beautiful  faience  so  rare 
and  so  highly  prized  in  Japan.  If  it  be  admitted  that 
first-class  specimens  of  ancient  Chinese  cHadon  bear 
some  comparison  with  the  jade  which  they  were  de- 
signed to  imitate,  there  will  be  no  risk  of  hyperbole  in 
asserting  that  the  Satsuma  ware  of  bygone  times  can 
scarcely,  at  first  sight,  be  distinguished  from  ivory. 
In  vain  does  one  search  among  modern  pieces  for  the 
exquisitely  smooth  surface,  rich,  mellow  tone,  and 
almost  imperceptible  crackle  of  the  old  faience. 
What  one  generally  finds  is  crude,  chalky  pdte^ 
covered  with  glaze  that  is  fissured  rather  than 
crackled.  Or  if  the  crackle  is  close  and  the  pate  tol- 

133 


JAPAN 

erably  fine,  the  soft,  ivory  tint  of  the  old  faience  is 
replaced  by  artificial  discoloration  intended  to  simu- 
late what  it  never  can  really  resemble,  the  effects  of 
age.  Yet  on  the  decoration  of  this  indifferent  manu- 
facture are  lavished  all  the  resources  of  ingenuity  and 
patience.  Elaborate  combinations  of  diapers,  bou- 
quets of  brilliant  flowers,  armies  of  gorgeously  ap- 
parelled saints,  peacocks  with  spreading  tails,  and 
dragons  environed  by  golden  clouds  — all  subjects,  in 
fact,  that  can  help  to  achieve  gaud  and  glitter  — are 
employed  by  painters  who  have  prostituted  their  in- 
herited instincts  to  the  supposed  tastes  of  their  foreign 
customers.  That  the  results  achieved  are  not  without 
merit,  and  that  in  many  cases  they  attain  a very  high 
standard  of  decorative  craft,  are  facts  needing  no 
demonstration.  What  they  represent,  however,  is 
neither  the  spirit  nor  the  fashion  of  true  Japanese 
art,  but  simply  the  adaptive  genius  of  Japanese  artists. 
Just  as,  during  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  cen- 
turies, the  potters  of  Arita  obeyed  the  demand  of  the 
Dutch  factory  at  Deshima,  and  not  only  modified 
their  decorative  motives,  but  even  manufactured  pieces 
en  suite  that  could  never  have  been  used  in  Japan;  so, 
from  1870  onwards,  Satsuma  faience-painters  thought 
chiefly  of  producing  something  that  would  either 
deceive  by  its  resemblance  to  the  ware  of  old  times, 
or  attract  vulgar  admiration  by  its  gorgeousness  and 
brilliancy.  It  does  not  follow  that  these  artists  had 
ceased  to  respect  the  principles  which  their  florid 
style  violates.  They  merely  suited  their  fashions  to 
foreign  customers.  The  best  possible  comment  on 
the  estimate  which  Japanese  connoisseurs  form  of 
such  styles  is  supplied  by  the  fact  that  pieces  decorated 
after  the  fashion  of  the  ‘‘  commercial  school,’’  as  it 

134  ' 


WARES  OF  SATSUMA 

may  justly  be  termed,  find  absolutely  no  purchasers  in 
the  country  of  their  origin : not  alone  does  their 
garish  ornamentation  exceed  the  extreme  limits  pre- 
scribed by  the  aesthetic  chastity  of  the  tea-clubs,  but 
their  generally  faulty  workmanship  lends  an  unpleas- 
ant air  of  sham  to  the  pains  taken  in  pranking  them 
out. 

The  earliest  manufacture  of  pottery  in  Sasshiu,  the 
most  southerly  among  the  nine  provinces  of  Kiushiu, 
is  referred  to  the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
but,  like  the  other  productions  of  that  period,  it  was 
represented  by  tea  utensils  of  the  scantiest  merit.  A 
hundred  years  later  (1596),  the  celebrated  Shimazu 
Yoshihiro,  Chief  of  Satsuma,  returning  from  the  in- 
vasion of  Korea,  brought  with  him  a large  number 
of  workmen  — some  fivescore,  it  is  said  — of  whom 
seventeen  were  skilled  potters.  The  names  of  these 
seventeen  are  still  retained  by  their  descendants.  Ac- 
cording to  Japanese  pronunciation,  the  Korean  names 
are  as  follows:  Shin,  Ri,  Boku,  Hen,  Ky5,  Tei, 
Jin,  Rin,  Haku,  Sai,  Chin,  Ro,  Kin,  Ga,  Tei,  Sha, 
and  Sai.  They  were  settled  at  first  in  three  villages, 
Kushikino,  Ichiku,  and  Sanno-gawa.  It  does  not 
appear  that  they  immediately  received  orders  to  open 
keramic  factories.  The  tradition  is  that  one  of  their 
number,  whose  Japanese  name  was  Hochiu,  urged 
his  comrades  to  repay  the  benefits  which  they  had 
received  at  the  hands  of  their  conquerors  by  introduc- 
ing the  keramic  methods  of  their  native  country.  A 
year  previously  (1595)  Prince  Yoshihiro  had  con- 
structed a castle  at  Chosa,  in  the  neighbouring  prov- 
ince of  Hiuga.  Thither  he  directed  Hochiu  and 
some  others  of  the  Korean  experts  to  move,  for  the 
purpose  of  carrying  on  their  industry.  The  Koreans 

135 


JAPAN 

were  thus  divided  into  two  sections,  — a fact  which  it 
is  essential  to  note  in  order  to  arrive  at  a clear  idea  of 
the  early  history  of  the  Satsuma  ware.  The  section 
that  repaired  to  Hiuga  was  headed  by  Hochiu ; the 
section  that  remained  in  Sasshiu  was  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Boku  Heii.  It  will  be  convenient  to  speak 
of  the  former  first. 

The  date  of  the  transfer  of  Hochiu  and  his  comrades 
to  Chosa  is  placed  in  1598.  They  established  a fac- 
tory in  a district  called  Nabekura,  under  the  immediate 
patronage  of  Yoshihiro.  The  wares  which  they  man- 
ufactured at  first  were  pottery  and  faience  after  Ko- 
rean methods  ; that  is  to  say,  ware  having  brownish  or 
reddish  brown  phte,  translucid,  colourless  glaze,  and 
archaic  ornamentation  consisting  of  incised  designs 
filled  with  white  slip  under  the  glaze.  These  pieces 
are  purely  traditional.  None  survive  that  can  be  iden- 
tified with  certainty  as  the  early  work  of  the  Chosa 
potters.  Within  a very  short  time  of  their  settlement 
at  Chosa,  they  began  to  manufacture  faience  without 
any  parallel  among  Korean  productions.  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  account  for  the  ability  they  developed,  unless, 
indeed,  an  explanation  is  furnished  by  the  fact  that 
until  their  arrival  in  Japan  they  had  enjoyed  no 
opportunity  of  examining  the  works  of  Chinese 
keramists.  Prince  Yoshihiro  was  a collector  on  a 
magnificent  scale.  Among  his  treasures  numerous 
masterpieces  of  the  Middle  Kingdom  were  included, 
and  it  was  his  pleasure  to  offer  these  as  models  for  the 
potters  at  the  new  factory.  So  much  interest  did  he 
take  in  the  work  that  whenever  a specimen  of  excep- 
tional excellence  was  turned  out,  he  made  a practice 
of  stamping  it  with  his  own  seal,  — an  honour  not 
easily  appreciated  without  some  knowledge  of  the 

136 


WARES  OF  SATSUMA 

position  occupied  by  a feudal  chief  in  Japan  three 
centuries  ago.  Pieces  thus  distinguished  received  the 
title  of  “ Go-hondeJ'  or  “ honourable  standards.”  It  is 
recorded  that  Yoshihiro’s  resolve  to  rival  the  repu- 
tation of  Chinese  keramists  induced  him  to  import 
clay  from  the  Yellow  River  in  China,  and  glazing 
material  from  Korea.  Specimens  potted  under  these 
circumstances  were  termed  Hi-bakari,''  or  ‘‘fire  only,” 
inasmuch  as  Japan’s  sole  contribution  to  their  manu- 
facture was  the  kiln  in  which  they  were  baked.  It 
must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  there  is  here 
any  question  of  ware  resembling  that  known  to  mod- 
ern collectors  as  Satsuma-yaki,  The  productions  of 
Hochiu  and  his  comrades  were  of  an  entirely  differ- 
ent class.  Eighteen  varieties  are  said  to  have  been 
manufactured,  but  no  record  is  preserved  of  the 
exact  points  in  which  they  differed.  Several  of  them 
were  purely  of  the  Korean  genre ; others  were  copied 
from  the  Chinese.  Of  the  latter,  eight  kinds  are 
well  known.  The  first  of  them  is  called  Jakatsu- 
gusuri  by  Japanese  connoisseurs,  from  the  fact  that  its 
dark  grey  glaze  is  run  in  large,  distinct  globules,  sup- 
posed to  resemble  the  scales  on  a dragon’s  back. 

The  second  is  the  Namako-gusuri^  a term  derived  from 
the  likeness  which  the  Jiambe  glaze  bears  to  the  green- 
ish blue,  mottled  tints  of  the  bhhe-de-mer  [namakd). 
This  faience,  or  stone-ware,  is  nothing  more  than  an 
imitation  of  the  Chinese  Kwan-yao^  or  ware  of  Canton. 
The  pate  is  dense,  well  nianipulated,  and  of  a greyish 
red  colour ; the  effect  of  the  jiambe  glaze  is  rich  and 
pleasing.  The  third  variety  is  the  Tessha-gusuri,  so 
called  from  the  iron  [tetsu)  dust  (sha)  that  appears  to 
float  in  the  glaze.  This  is  a copy  of  the  Tei-shu-hwa 
of  China.  The  fourth  is  a black  glaze  [Kuro-gusuri')^ 

137 


JAPAN 

softer  and  richer  than  the  noir  mat  of  the  Chinese 
potters,  but  less  brilliant  than  their  noir  eclatant.  The 
fifth  is  black  glaze  speckled  with  gold  dust ; a beauti- 
ful and  rare  variety.  The  sixth  is  tea-green  glaze, 
usually  overlapping  one  or  two  coats  of  russet-brown 
or  pear-skin  glazes.  The  seventh  is  polychromatic 
glaze,  the  principal  colours  being  tea-green,  greyish 
white,  and  rich  brown.  The  eighth  is  tortoise-shell 
glaze  [Bekko-gusuri)y  of  great  richness  and  exceedingly 
dextrous  technique.  Specimens  of  all  these  are  still 
procurable,  but  they  are  generally  small  pieces  designed 
for  the  use  of  the  tea-clubs.  They  show,  however, 
that  the  skill  of  the  Chbsa  potters,  so  long  ago  as  the 
beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  was  very  remark- 
able. It  is  believed  by  some  Japanese  amateurs  that 
among  the  so-called  Korean  potters  who  settled  in 
Satsuma,  and  elsewhere  in  Kiushu,  after  the  return  of 
the  Japanese  expedition  from  Korea,  not  a few  Chi- 
nese keramic  experts  were  included.  If  this  theory  be 
accepted,  it  accounts  for  much  that  would  otherwise 
be  scarcely  explicable.  For  it  is  certain  that  among 
authenticated  productions  of  Korean  kilns  there  is 
nothing  that  compares  with  the  wares  described  above, 
whereas  precisely  similar  glazes  were  produced  at  the 
Chinese  factories  of  Ching-te-chen  and  elsewhere. 

In  the  year  i6io  Prince  Yoshihiro  changed  his 
residence  to  Kojiki,  in  the  neighbouring  province  of 
Osumi.  Hochiu  and  his  comrades  followed  their 
patron,  establishing  themselves  at  Hiki-yama  in  the 
same  district.  A few  years  later  Hochiu’s  eldest  son, 
Kisaburo,  showed  such  proficiency  that  Prince  Yoshi- 
hiro bestowed  on  him  the  name  of  Kawara,  because 
of  the  fact  that  the  Hiki-yama  factory  stood  near  the 
bank  of  the  river  Kurokawa.  Kisaburo,  sometimes 

138 


WARES  OF  SATSUMA 

called  Saburohei  or  Kihei,  thus  became  the  founder 
of  the  Kawara  family,  which  long  remained  conspic- 
uous among  the  Satsuma  experts.  Prince  Yoshihiro 
died  in  the  era  of  Genna  (1615—1623),  but  the  pot- 
teries established  by  him  continued  to  flourish  under 
the  direction  of  Hochiu,  who  survived  until  1636. 
Prince  Yoshihiro’s  successor  directed  Koemon,  a son 
of  Kawara  Kihei,  to  open  a separate  factory  at  a place 
called  Yamamoto,  authorising  him,  at  the  same  time, 
to  adopt  the  family  name  of  Yamamoto.  Thus 
Hdchiu’s  descendants  were  divided  into  two  branches, 
the  Kawara  family,  founded  by  his  son  Kisaburo,  and 
the  Yamamoto  family,  founded  by  his  grandson 
Koemon.  Kawara  Kisaburo's  second  son,  Tobei, 
succeeded  him  in  the  direction  of  the  Hiki-yama 
factory,  but  about  the  year  1650  the  two  families  re- 
united and  established  themselves  at  Tatsumonji,  in 
the  Oyamada  district  in  Osumi.  The  reason  of  this 
change  of  place  was  the  discovery,  in  the  Oyamada 
region,  of  a white  stone  from  which  it  was  found  pos- 
sible to  manufacture  pate  of  much  finer  quality  and 
purer  colour  than  anything  previously  produced. 
The  potters  were  no  longer  under  the  munificent 
patronage  of  Prince  Yoshihiro.  They  still  enjoyed 
a large  measure  of  support  from  the  house  of 
Shimazu,  but  it  would  scarcely  have  been  within 
their  competence  to  move  their  kilns  to  Tatsumonji 
had  they  not  received  assistance  from  a wealthy 
farmer,  by  name  Yoshiernon,  who,  out  of  pure  love 
of  the  keramic  art,  contributed  one-half  of  the 
money  required  to  make  the  change.  From  this 
time  they  were  able  to  add  another  variety  to  their 
manufactures,  namely,  faience  covered  with  greyish 
white  glaze  finely  crackled. 

139 


JAPAN 

At  this  point  it  becomes  convenient  to  revert  to 
the  story  of  the  remaining  Korean  potters  who  had 
accompanied  Prince  Yoshihiro.  At  first  they  settled 
in  the  district  of  Hioki,  in  Sasshu,  establishing  a 
factory  at  Shitana,  and  manufacturing  wares  of 
much  the  same  character  as  those  produced  by  Hochiu 
and  his  comrades  at  Chosa.  But  in  the  year  1603, 
for  some  reason  not  recorded,  they  removed  to  the 
Nawashiro  district  in  the  same  province,  closing  the 
factory  of  Hioki,  or  Moto-tsubo-ya,  as  the  place  is 
now  called.  Among  the  Korean  wares  most  highly 
esteemed  in  Japan  there  was  a variety  to  which 
Japanese  virtuosi  had  given  the  name  of  Koma-gai 
— written  Kumagawa,  This  was  faience  having  some- 

what coarse,  brown  pate^  with  lustrous,  cream-coloured 
or  buff  glaze,  very  finely  crackled  and  of  consider- 
able merit.  Resembling  in  some  respects  the  Chinese 
white  Ting-yao  of  the  Sung  dynasty,  — a ware  eagerly 
sought  after  by  the  tea-clubs  — the  Koma-gai  faience 
offered  a model  which  Prince  Yoshihiro  was  naturally 
anxious  to  see  copied  at  his  factories.  His  wish 
could  not  be  complied  with  at  first,  owing  to  lack 
of  suitable  materials.  Various  essays  were  made  by 
Boku  Heii,  the  most  skilled  of  the  Korean  experts, 
but  so  little  success  was  achieved  that  in  the  year 
1614  Prince  Yoshihiro  found  it  necessary  to  have  a 
careful  search  made  throughout  his  fief  for  suitable 
materials.  The  task  was  entrusted  to  Boku  Heii. 
After  an  examination  conducted  with  the  utmost 
patience,  Heii  reported  that  the  following  materials 
were  suited  for  manufacturing  a faience  of  the  de- 
sired nature : A species  of  white  sand  found  at 
Kaseda ; a stone  for  manufacturing  glaze,  found  at 
Kionomine,  in  the  same  district ; three  varieties  of 

140 


WARES  OF  SATSUMA 

white  earth  found,  respectively,  at  Uchiyama,  in  the 
Ibusuki  district,  at  Narukawa,  and  at  Nibura  in  the 
same  district ; and  the  ash  obtained  from  the  bark  of 
the  Nara  tree  grown  in  the  Kagago  district.  The 
results  of  this  investigation  were  satisfactory.  Thence- 
forth there  was  produced  at  the  Nawashiro,  or  Nawa- 
shiro-gawa  factory,  a faience  superior  in  pate  and  equal 
in  glaze  to  the  celebrated  Komagai  ware.  This  was 
the  origin  of  the  Satsuma-yaki  destined  afterwards  to 
become  so  famous.  It  is  recorded  that  Prince  Yoshi- 
hiro,  much  pleased  with  Heifs  diligence  and  skill, 
appointed  him  superintendent  of  the  factory,  and 
furnished  him  with  models  to  copy  ; the  Prince  stamp- 
ing with  his  own  seal  — as  he  did  at  the  Chosa 
workshops  — specimens  that  showed  exceptional  merit. 
Another  plan  devised  by  this  noble  with  the  object  of 
promoting  excellence  was  to  grant  handsome  annuities 
to  potters  who  distinguished  themselves,  and  to  with- 
draw these  rewards  from  those  that  showed  want  of 
skill.  The  custom  was  observed  by  Yoshihiro’s  suc- 
cessors until  the  abolition  of  feudalism  (i  868).  Its 
effects  must  have  been  very  marked. 

Boku  Heii  died  in  the  year  1621.  The  line  of  his 
descendants  is  still  uninterrupted,  each  representative 
of  the  family  bearing  the  name  of  Heii,  as  was  or- 
dained by  Prince  Yoshihiro.  A contemporary  of 
Boku  was  Chin  Tokichi,  who  also  attained  consider- 
able reputation,  and  was  appointed  foreman  of  the 
Nawashiro  factory.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Toju,  and  the  latter  by  his  son,  Tokichi.  The  feudal 
chief  of  Sasshiu  honored  Tokichi  (of  the  third  genera- 
tion) by  conferring  on  him  the  name  of  “ Toichi  ” 
{icbi  signifies  ‘‘first,”  or  most  excellent).  This  event 
occurred  about  the  year  1675,  by  which  time  the 

141 


JAPAN 

manufacture  had  been  carried  to  a point  of  high  ex- 
cellence at  Nawashiro.  It  has  been  shown  that  the 
Korean  potters  at  Tatsumonji  had  commenced  to  pro- 
duce similar  ware  in  1650.  This  is  the  Hibiki-de,  or 
white  craquele  faience  of  Satsuma.  But  as  yet  nothing 
is  heard  of  decorated  faience ; of  the  Saishiki-de^  or 
enamelled  ware,  and  of  the  Nishikt-de^  or  brocade 
ware  (/.  e.  decorated  with  gold  as  well  as  coloured 
enamels),  which  are  practically  the  only  varieties  of 
Satsuma-yaki  familiar  to  Western  collectors.  Strange 
to  say,  some  confusion  exists  with  regard  to  the  origin 
of  these  beautiful  products.  So  respectable  an  author- 
ity as  Mr.  Ninagawa  Noritane,  author  of  the  ‘‘  Kanko 
Zusetsu,”  refers  the  first  use  of  vitrifiable  enamels  by 
the  Sasshiu  potters  to  a period  no  earlier  than  the  be- 
ginning of  the  nineteenth  century,  founding  his  state- 
ment upon  the  fact  that  two  experts  of  the  Tatsumonji 
factory  visited  Kyoto  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  there  acquired  the  art  of  decorating  with 
vitrifiable  enamels.  That  such  a visit  was  made  is 
undoubtedly  true.  It  will  be  referred  to  by-and-by. 
But  that  the  first  employment  of  vitrifiable  enamels  in 
the  Satsuma  fief  dates  from  the  visit,  is  a theory  defy- 
ing credence.  It  involves  the  supposition  that  the 
keramists  of  Satsuma,  enjoying  the  patronage  of  one 
of  the  greatest  nobles  in  Japan,  and  producing  a ware 
of  exceptionally  fine  quality,  remained  during  more 
than  a century  and  a half  ignorant  of  processes  which 
were  practised  at  all  the  best  factories  in  the  Empire, 
and  which  had  won  renown  for  a near  and  rival  prov- 
ince, Hizen.  Careful  enquiry  proves  that  credulity 
need  not  be  so  heavily  taxed.  The  perplexity  of  Mr. 
Ninagawa  and  others  was  caused  by  failing  to  observe 
that  the  factory  where  enamelled  Satsuma  ware  was 

142 


WARES  OF  SATSUMA 

first  produced  is  distinct  from  the  factory  where  its 
manufacture  was  revived  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  It  may  be  confidently  asserted  that  enamelled 
wares  were  made  by  the  potters  of  Tatsumonji  as  early 
as  1675.  Mitsuhisa  was  then  the  feudal  chief  of  Sat- 
suma,  and  it  is  recorded  that  he  bestowed  nearly  as 
much  patronage  upon  the  potters  of  his  fief  as  his  an- 
cestor Yoshihiro  had  done.  lyemitsu,  third  Regent 
of  the  Tokugawa  dynasty,  had  encouraged  the  already 
growing  taste  for  highly  decorated  ware,  and  his  influ- 
ence was  felt  at  all  the  centres  of  keramic  industry  in 
Japan.  The  Prince  of  Sasshiu  was  not  likely  to  be 
behind  the  times.  He  summoned  to  his  fief  the  painter 
Tangen,  a pupil  of  the  renowned  Tanyu  (died  1674), 
and  employed  him  to  paint  faience  himself  or  to  fur- 
nish the  keramists  with  designs.  Ware  produced  under 
these  circumstances  received  the  name  Satsuma  ’Tan- 
gen ^ and  now  constitutes  one  of  the  treasures  of  Jap- 
anese dilettanti.  The  number  of  pieces  manufactured 
was  small.  They  were  destined  entirely  for  private 
use  or  for  presents.  The  decoration  was  not  brilliant, 
the  object  being  to  show  the  painter’s  skill  rather  than 
the  enameller’s.  Judging  by  the  very  rare  specimens 
still  extant,  it  appears  that  the  rich  combinations  of 
jewelled  diapers  and  delicately  painted  medallions  of 
middle-period  Satsuma  were  not  affected  by  the  pot- 
ters of  Tangen’s  time.  The  style  of  the  latter  may  be 
more  appropriately  called  sketchy  — slight  floral  de- 
signs, impressionist  landscapes,  birds  on  branches,  and 
such  simple  subjects  constituted  the  favourite  motives. 
Sometimes  the  only  colour  employed  by  the  deco- 
rator was  the  reddish  brown  obtained  from  Kaki- 
no-shibu  (the  juice  of  the  Diospyros  Kaki).  Such 
pictures  were  called  Shibu-e. 

H3 


JAPAN 

Some  investigators  claim  that  the  production  of  this 
early-period  enamelled  faience  was  confined  to  the 
workshops  at  Tatsumonji;  others  that  it  extended  also 
to  the  factory  of  Tadeno.  The  point  is  unimportant. 
It  is  sufficient  to  note  that  from  1 675  to  the  latter 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century  ware  of  this  descrip- 
tion was  manufactured  in  very  small  quantities  for 
special  purposes. 

The  factory  of  Tadeno,  mentioned  here,  was  estab- 
lished during  the  Kuan-ei  era  (1625—1643),  in  the 
Kagoshima  district  of  Sasshiu,  by  special  order  of  the 
chief  of  the  fief.  Its  productions  were  always  of  a 
very  high  order,  and  one  of  its  artists,  Kono  Senemon, 
who  flourished  from  the  Meiwa  era  (1764-1772),  ac- 
quired great  renown.  Senemon’s  skill  lay  chiefly  in 
the  manufacture  of  the  wares  known  as  Chosa-yaki ; 
that  is  to  say,  the  jiambe,  tea-coloured,  black  and  brown 
glazes  of  Hochiu  and  his  comrades. 

It  has  been  explained  that  the  Yamamoto  and 
Kawara  families  united  to  establish  the  Tatsumonji 
factory  about  1650.  The  latter  family  was  then  rep- 
resented by  Kawara  Tobei,  who  left  three  sons,  of 
whom  the  eldest  was  Gensuke  and  the  youngest  Juzae- 
mon.  This  Juzaemon  founded  an  independent  branch 
of  the  family,  and  was  succeeded  by  a son,  also  called 
Juzaemon,  who  took  the  artist  name  Hoko.  Hoko 
was  a man  of  great  enterprise  and  ambition.  At  the 
age  of  twenty-three  he  obtained  his  father’s  permis- 
sion to  repair  to  the  Tadeno  factory,  where  Kono 
Senemon  was  then  at  the  zenith  of  his  fame.  After 
studying  for  twelve  years  under  Kono’s  direction, 
Hoko  returned  to  Tatsumonji,  and  succeeded  in  re- 
producing the  eighteen  varieties  of  faience  for  which 
his  ancestor  Hochiu  had  been  famous.  Not  content 

144 


WARES  OF  SATSUMA 

with  this  achievement,  he  now  conceived  the  idea  of 
visiting  the  workshops  of  Hizen.  For  this  purpose 
the  indispensable  permission  and  aid  of  the  Prince 
of  Satsuma  were  obtained.  Hoko,  accompanied  by 
Kawara  Yagoro,  the  representative  of  the  elder  branch 
of  his  family,  repaired  to  Arita  and  informed  himself 
of  the  methods  practised  there.  Finally,  in  1793,  he 
resolved  to  visit  all  the  principal  factories  throughout 
Japan.  Shimazu  Tomonobu,  then  chief  of  the  fief, 
an  ardent  lover  and  patron  of  the  fine  arts,  not  only  ap- 
proved Hoko's  design,  but  furnished  him  with  money 
for  his  journey,  and  directed  Hoshiyama  Chiubei,  a 
potter  of  Tadeno,  to  accompany  him.  The  two 
experts,  having  spent  some  time  at  the  principal 
keramic  centres  of  Kiushu  — namely,  Hizen,  Higo, 
Chikuzen,  and  Chikugo  — passed  over  to  the  main- 
land, and  proceeded  to  Kyoto,  via  the  celebrated 
workshops  of  Bizen.  . At  Kyoto  they  placed  them- 
selves in  communication  with  Aoki  Sobei,  a potter  of 
great  repute.  Sobei  recommended  them  to  go  on  to 
Owari,  promising  that  on  their  return  he  would  have 
something  to  teach  them.  They  accordingly  pro- 
ceeded to  Seto ; learned  there  the  method  of  manu- 
facturing the  faience  called  Mifukai-yaki  (vide  Seto), 
and  then  returned  to  Kyoto  by  Ise.  Sobei  kept  his 
word.  He  showed  the  travellers  all  the  processes  for 
producing  the  enamelled  faience  of  Awata  (vide 
Kyoto),  as  well  as  the  Raku  ware,  dear  to  the  tea- 
clubs.  Thus,  by  the  time  they  reached  home,  they 
had  acquired  a knowledge  of  all  the  chief  keramic 
productions  of  the  Empire.  From  this  epoch  (1795) 
may  be  dated  a large  increase  in  the  manufacture  of 
enamelled  Satsuma  faience.  The  prince  of  the  fief, 
Shimazu  Tomonobu,  afterwards  called  Ei5,  gave 

VOL.  VIII. 10 


JAPAN 

special  orders  in  1 796  for  the  production  of  enamelled 
faience  — Nishiki-de  — at  the  Tadeno  factory,  and  it 
is  to  this  fact,  taken  in  conjunction  with  the  impulse 
imparted  to  the  decorative  art  of  Satsuma  generally 
by  the  acquirements  and  enterprise  of  H5ko  and 
Chiubei,  that  may  be  ascribed  the  popular  misconcep- 
tion, spoken  of  above,  with  regard  to  the  period  when 
vitrifiable  enamels  were  first  used  by  the  potters  of 
Sasshiu  and  Osumi. 

The  distinguishing  features  of  the  enamelled  Sat- 
suma-yaki  produced  in  the  time  of  Eio,  as  well  as  in 
the  early  days  of  the  manufacture,  were  fineness  of 
pate  and  lustre  of  glaze.  The  former  was  as  close- 
grained  as  pipe-clay,  and  almost  as  hard  as  porcelain 
biscuit.  The  amateur  can  have  no  safer  guide.  He 
will  find  that,  however  chaste  and  careful  may  be  the 
decoration  of  a modern  piece,  the  chalky,  porous 
nature  of  the  pate  at  once  proclaims  its  youth.  As 
for  the  glaze,  it  was  indescribably  smooth,  lustrous, 
and  mellow.  Quality  of  glaze,  however,  is  not  an  in- 
fallible criterion  of  age.  Old  and  in  other  respects 
excellent  pieces  are  to  be  found  which  show  a some- 
what coarsely  crackled,  crude  surface.  But  the  ama- 
teur may  accept  this  as  a rule,  — that  choice  pieces  of 
old  Sat  suma-yaki  should  have  an  ivory-like,  lustrous 
glaze,  of  creamy  or  even  yellowish  tone,  and  that  their 
crackle  should  be  almost  microscopic.  The  enamels 
used  were  red,  green,  Prussian  blue,  purple,  gold, 
black,  and  yellow.  All  these  may  be  seen  on  modern 
imitations  also,  but  the  purity  and  brilliancy  of  the  old 
enamels  are  now  seldom  rivalled.  As  for  decorative 
subjects,  it  may  be  emphatically  laid  down  that  pieces 
upon  which  human  figures  and  peacocks  are  depicted 
belong,  with  very  rare  exceptions,  to  the  spurious 

146 


WARES  OF  SATSUMA 

period.  Groups  of  saints  — as,  for  example,  the  Six- 
teen Bodhisattvas  — or  congregations  of  other  reli- 
gious persons  — as  the  five  hundred  Arhats  — are 
favourite  subjects  with  the  modern  painter  of  Satsuma 
ware.  To  a Japanese  of  former  times  such  subjects 
would  have  seemed  as  much  out  of  place  on  the  sur- 
face of  a flower-vase  as  a crucifix  on  a beer-flagon 
would  appear  to  Europeans.  Of  course  the  fitness  of 
things  would  not  have  been  equally  violated  by  rep- 
resentations of  peacocks  or  warriors.  About  these 
nothing  need  be  said  except  that  they  were  never  in 
fashion  at  Nawashiro  or  Tatsumonji.  The  Satsuma 
potter  confined  himself  strictly  to  diapers,  floral  sub- 
jects, landscapes,  and  a few  conventionalities,  such 
as  the  Phoenix,  the  Shishi  (mythical  lion),  the  Dragon, 
and  the  Kirin  (unicorn). 

The  choice  pieces  potted  at  the  Safsuma-yaki  fac- 
tory prior  to  the  mediatisation  of  the  fiefs  (1868) 
were  invariably  small,  or  at  most  of  medium  size. 
Tripod  incense-burners  six  or  seven  inches  high,  with 
pierced  lids,  were  perhaps  the  most  important  ex- 
amples. Smaller  specimens  take  the  form  of  cups, 
wine-bottles  (^Sake-dokurt)  with  slender  necks,  ewers 
[suiteki),  censers  [Koro),  incense-boxes  {Kogo),  vases  for 
placing  on  the  lower  shelf  of  a stand  [Shoku-sh' to),  and 
so  forth.  The  large  imposing  examples  included  in 
so  many  Western  collections  are  invariably  of  modern 
manufacture. 

It  may  be  worth  noticing  that  in  a beautifully  illus- 
trated work  called  “ The  Keramic  Arts  of  Japan  ” by 
Messrs.  Audsley  and  Bowes,  pains  are  taken  to  divide 
a series  of  Satsuma  specimens  — representing  for  the 
most  part  a period  of  about  twenty  years  — into  three 
sections,  which  are  distinguished  as  OA/,  Middle^  and 

147 


JAPAN 

Modern,  but  which  in  reality  represent  nothing  more 
than  different  degrees  of  medication.  In  truth,  those 
“ evidences  of  age  ” which  the  amateur  is  so  much 
disposed  to  trust,  are  of  all  things  most  deceptive. 
The  first  impression  their  presence  produces  should  be 
one  of  suspicion.  Steeping  in  strong  infusions  of  tea, 
boiling  in  decoctions  of  yasha  and  sulphuric  acid,  or 
exposure  to  the.  fumes  of  damp  incense,  are  methods 
thoroughly  appreciated  and  constantly  practised  by  the 
Japanese  dealer,  but  so  little  understood  by  collectors 
that  places  of  honour  are  often  accorded  to  specimens 
still  besmeared  with  the  sediment  of  the  drug  used  to 
discolour  them.  Until  the  bric-a-brac  buyer  has  ac- 
quired ability  to  distinguish  between  the  results  of 
doctoring  and  the  traces  of  time,  he  will  do  well  to  re- 
member that,  as  a rule,  the  best  things  are  the  most 
carefully  preserved,  especially  in  Japan,  where  objects 
of  virtu  not  only  pass  a great  part  of  their  existence 
swathed  in  silk  or  crepe  wrappers  and  hidden  away  in 
the  recesses  of  a storehouse,  but  are  also  cleansed 
repeatedly  from  every  stain  of  use. 

What  is  the  charm  which  has  justly  placed  the  old 
Satsuma-yaki  at  the  head  of  all  Japanese  faience? 
The  question  is  well  answered  by  Messrs.  Audsley 
and  Bowes  when  they  say  that  “in  the  entire  range 
of  keramic  art  there  has  been  no  surface  produced 
more  refined  in  treatment  or  more  perfectly  adapted 
to  receive  and  enhance  the  value  of  coloured  decora- 
tions, than  that  presented  by  the  best  specimens  of  old 
Satsuma  faience.’’  One  might  almost  suppose  that 
the  idea  of  this  ware  had  been  inspired  by  the  exquis- 
itely harmonious  effect  of  gold  decoration  upon  ivory 
mellowed  by  age.  The  Satsuma  surface,  however, 
is  even  superior  to  ivory,  for  its  network  of  minute 

148 


WARES  OF  SATSUMA 

crackle  produces  a play  of  light  that  greatly  enhances 
its  charms.  It  is  for  this  surface  that  the  collector 
should  look.  If  he  seeks  wealth  of  decoration  only, 
he  can  suit  himself  best  among  the  imposing  and  often 
beautiful  manufactures  of  the  present  day.  In  older 
pieces  it  will  always  be  found  that  the  artist,  recog- 
nising the  beauty  of  the  ground  upon  which  he 
worked,  took  care  that  it  should  not  be  unnecessarily 
hidden.  In  modern  specimens,  on  the  contrary,  the 
decoration  too  frequently  serves  to  conceal  the  imper- 
fections of  the  surface  to  which  it  is  applied ; and  the 
surface,  where  it  is  allowed  to  appear,  is  usually 
treated  ” to  impart  stains  which  do  duty  for  the 
mellow  tint  of  former  times.  Some  critics  claim  that 
nothing  substantial  has  been  lost  by  abandoning  the 
chaste  canons  of  early  years,  since  the  more  elaborate 
style  now  in  vogue  affords  the  artist  wider  scope. 
But  even  if  the  advantages  of  increased  glitter  and 
extended  range  of  subject  be  conceded  to  the  modern 
school,  the  merit  of  superior  technique  remains  to  the 
old.  Small  pieces  of  early-period  Satsuma,  such  as 
cups,  incense-holders,  tea-jars,  etc.,  etc.,  often  exhibit 
embellishment  which,  while  in  richness  of  effect  it 
will  bear  comparison  with  the  most  ornate  of  the  later 
designs,  shows  greater  accuracy  of  execution  and  much 
more  skilled  use  of  enamels.  The  connoisseur  will 
generally  find,  in  examining  a vase  painted  for  the 
foreign  market,  that  however  much  labour  has  been 
bestowed  on  the  body  of  the  piece,  the  less  promi- 
nent portions  are  somewhere’  defective,  and  that 
whereas  lustreless  pigments  predominate  on  modern 
examples,  the  decoration  of  the  old  consisted  chiefly 
of  pure,  jewel-like  enamels.  The  original  style  was 
certainly  more  calculated  to  encourage  mechanical 

149 


JAPAN 

precision  ; for  when  an  artist’s  choice  of  design  is  lim- 
ited to  flowers,  foliage,  diapers,  frets,  and  occasionally 
a Howo,  Kirin^  or  Shishi,  he  is  constrained  to  pay  atten- 
tion to  details  which  in  a more  ambitious  subject 
become  points  of  secondary  importance.  The  whole 
matter,  indeed,  resolves  itself  into  this : the  methods 
of  past  days  were  entirely  decorative,  while  those  of 
the  present  frequently  aim  at  pictorial  effect.  There 
can  be  little  doubt  which  is  the  more  truly  artistic, 
having  regard  to  the  object  in  view. 

Enough  has  probably  been  said  on  the  subject  of 
quality  of  p^te  and  glaze,  fineness  of  crackle,  and  the 
use  of  enamels,  to  enable  the  amateur  to  distinguish 
with  tolerable  certainty  between  new  and  old  Satsuma 
wares.  As  to  colours  it  may  be  added  that  the 
modern  decorator  generally  employs  a lighter  and 
more  washy  red  than  the  opaque  Indian  red  of  his 
predecessors.  This  red  was  the  only  pigment  in  the 
palette  of  former  times,  all  the  other  colours,  gold 
and  silver  of  course  excepted,  being  enamels.  They 
were  green,  blue,  purple,  black,  and  yellow.  The 
last  three  are  seldom  employed  now,  and  if  used  at 
all,  are  more  likely  to  appear  as  pigments  than  as 
enamels.  The  green  enamel  of  the  present  day  is 
not  inferior  to  that  of  the  early  potters,  but  the  blue 
is  distinctly  impure,  — a dull,  muddy  tone.  Modern 
decorators  have  also  added  a half-colour,  pink,  the 
presence  of  which  indicates  a period  not  older  than 
the  Tempo  era  {1830-1843),  and  may  usually  be  taken 
as  showing  a much  more  modern  date.  But  while 
noting  these  distinctions,  it  has  to  be  again  observed 
that  when  the  modern  decorator  finds  sufficient  in- 
ducement to  put  forth  his  full  strength  — as,  for 
example,  when  his  object  is  to  produce  a faithful 

150 


WARES  OF  SATSUMA 

imitation  of  an  old  specimen  — his  work  does  not 
fall  far  short  of  the  best  standards.  Therefore  the 
only  certain  criterion  is  quality  of  pate  and  glaze. 

In  the  case  of  the  polychromatic  or  monochromatic 
wares  of  Chosa,  not  alone  the  peculiar  glazes,  but 
also  the  fine,  iron-red  pate  is  easily  recognised  after 
a little  experience.  Another  guide  in  identifying  a 
Satsuma,  or  Chosa,  tea-jar  (chatsuho)  is  the  ito-giri ; 
a mark  left  on  the  bottom  by  the  thread  which  the 
potter  used  to  sever  the  piece  from  the  clay  out  of 
which  it  was  modelled.  This  mark  is  generally  found 
upon  Japanese  tea-jars,  but  since  the  Korean  workmen 
who  settled  in  Satsuma  turned  the  throwing-wheel  with 
the  left  foot,  while  potters  at  other  factories  turned  it 
with  the  right,  it  will  be  readily  understood  that  the 
spiral  of  the  Satsuma  thread-mark  is  from  left  to 
right,  and  that  of  other  factories  from  right  to  left. 

Pure  white  faience,  sometimes  cleverly  moulded  or 
reticulated,  was  a favourite  production  of  the  ancient 
Satsuma  potters,  and  has  proved  a fertile  source  of 
deception  in  modern  times.  For  these  unadorned 
pieces,  though  they  possess  little  value  in  the  eyes  of 
uneducated  Western  collectors,  need  only  to  be  tricked 
out  in  gold  and  coloured  enamels  and  steeped  in  some 
soiling  decoction.  Thus  they  are  transformed  into 
specimens  of  ‘‘  old  Satsuma,”  concerning  which  the 
wily  dealer  can  always  direct  a customer’s  attention 
to  the  plainly  old  pate^  and  by  that  inimitable  feature 
silence  criticism  of  everything  else.  One  scarcely 
cares  to  calculate  how  many  ‘‘  gems  ” of  Satsuma-yaki 
which  now  occupy  places  of  honour  in  European  and 
American  collections,  belong  really  to  this  hybrid 
category.  Further,  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  foreign 
taste,  there  has  sprung  up  of  late  years  in  Japan  a class 


JAPAN 

of  keramic  decorators  who  reside  at  the  Open  Ports, 
and  there,  receiving  from  the  provinces  consignments 
of  plain  white  faience  and  porcelain,  embellish  them 
with  paintings  of  all  kinds,  the  main  object  in  every 
case  being  profusion  of  ornament  and  brilliancy  of 
effect.  These  artists  not  infrequently  put  their  seal 
or  name  upon  a vase  which  has  passed  through  their 
hands. 

So  far,  in  speaking  of  the  Satsuma  craquele  faience, 
mention  has  been  made  only  of  pure  white  and  of 
enamelled  wares.  But  these  were  by  no  means  the 
limit  of  the  potter’s  productions.  His  range  was 
large.  Among  the  most  beautiful  but  least  known 
of  his  pieces  were  yellow  and  apple-green  mono- 
chromes. Sometimes  a specimen  is  splashed  with  red 
showing  metallic  lustre,  and  sometimes  a cup  might 
easily  be  mistaken  for  Delft  ware.  Again,  though 
more  rarely,  the  collector  is  surprised  by  pieces  of 
Satsuma  faience  decorated  with  blue  sous  couverte. 

The  reader  will  have  observed  that  the  special 
order  given  by  the  Prince  of  Satsuma  for  the  manu- 
facture of  enamelled  faience  at  the  close  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  was  addressed  to  the  potters  of  Tadeno. 
It  does  not  appear  that  faience  of  this  description  was 
produced  at  the  Nawashiro-gawa  factory  until  about 
1 840.  At  that  time  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
workmen  was  Boku  Seiki.  His  son,  Seikuan,  had 
long  been  ambitious  to  develop  the  decorative  methods 
of  the  factory.  The  matter  having  been  brought  to 
the  notice  of  the  superintending  officials,  a special 
section  was  created  for  the  purpose,  and  two  experts 
were  procured  from  Tadeno.  hinder  their  instruction 
Seikuan  acquired  such  skill  that,  in  1844,  he  was 
appointed  superintendent  of  the  Nishiki-de  (brocade 

152 


WARES  OF  SATSUMA 

ware)  section.  In  1855  Prince  Tomoyoshi  caused 
a kiln  to  be  erected  within  the  grounds  of  his  resi- 
dence at  Shimizu-machi,  Kagoshima,  and  Seikuan  was 
summoned  thither  as  chief  decorator.  Faience  of 
great  beauty  and  most  delicately  executed  decoration 
was  produced  at  this  factory.  Seikuan  was  hand- 
somely rewarded,  and  on  his  return  to  Nawashiro- 
gawa  the  manufacture  of  brocade  ” ware  at  that 
place  received  a new  impulse. 

Mention  should  be  made  here  of  a variety  of  faience 
the  production  of  which  dates  from  the  time  (1795) 
of  the  visit  paid  by  H5ko  and  Chiubei  to  Kyoto  (see 
supra).  Both  the  pate  and  the  glaze  of  this  ware  are 
brown  or  grey.  Its  peculiar  feature  is  that  the  glaze, 
instead  of  being  simply  crackled,  takes  the  form  of  a 
multitude  of  tiny  segments,  not  globular  but  flat. 
This  faience  is  called  Same-yaki  from  the  resemblance 
which  its  granulated  surface  bears  to  the  skin  of  a 
shark.  The  condition  of  the  glaze  results  from  con- 
traction in  the  process  of  firing. 

It  will  be  seen,  from  what  has  been  stated  above, 
that  various  kinds  of  clay  were  mixed  to  obtain  the  pate 
of  the  Satsuma-yaki,  An  analysis  of  some  of  these 
clays,  as  well  as  of  the  lixiviated  wood-ash  employed 
in  manufacturing  the  glaze,  has  been  made  by  Pro- 
fessor R.  W.  Atkinson,  with  results  shown  in  the  table 
on  the  following  page. 

It  is  evident  that  with  these  materials  a ware  very 
closely  resembling  genuine  porcelain  could  have  been 
manufactured,  and,  indeed,  among  the  products  of  the 
Nawashiro-gawa  and  Tadeno  kilns,  specimens  are 
found  which  possess  hardness  and  translucency  nearly 
entitling  them  to  rank  with  fine  porcelain.  It  would 
seem,  however,  that  these  were  the  result  of  accident 

153 


JAPAN 

rather  than  of  deliberate  effort.  The  potters  of  Na- 
washiro  and  Tadeno  never  set  themselves  the  task  of 
manufacturing  porcelain.  The  first  person  to  under- 
take such  work  in  the  Satsuma  fief  was  Ono  Genriu- 
in,  or  Genriu-bo,  a priest,  who  resided  at  Nishi-yoda 
in  the  Chosa  district  of  Osumi  province.  Ono  was 
an  ardent  virtuoso.  Perceiving  that  although  the 
Satsuma  fief  possessed  potters  of  ability,  local  consump- 
tion was  chiefly  supplied  by  wares  imported  from 

NAME  OF  CLAY 


Nara- 

Ash. 

Matsu- 

KUBO. 

Kirishima. 

Kasbda. 

Neba. 

Bara. 

Moisture  . 

2.82 

1.67 

.70 

.46 

1.93 

1.51 

Combined  water  . 

•51 

11-97 

10. 85 

1. 1 8 

11.74 

7.09 

Silica  .... 

8.405 

60.72 

59.42 

77-15 

51-79 

60.  30 

Alumina  . 

4.785 

22.68 

27.90 

13-50 

30.91 

27.62 

Ferric  oxide  . 

3.300 

— 

— 

•94 

1.13 

— 

Lime  .... 

42.765 

.48 

• 13 

.83 

•49 

1.02 

Magnesia  . 

2.415 

.65 

.26 

.62 

1.17 

.46 

Potash  .... 

•74 

1.02 

.61 

3-34 

.65 

.70 

Soda  .... 

.215 

.82 

1. 01 

1.85 

•34 

I. 18 

Carbonic  acid  . 

34-145 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Hizen,  he  conceived  the  idea  of  establishing  a kiln 
for  the  manufacture  of  porcelain.  A capitalist  was 
easily  induced  to  embark  in  the  enterprise,  as  also  was 
an  amateur  keramist  of  some  skill,  Noda  Kichiemon. 
Information  as  to  the  methods  of  porcelain  manufac- 
ture was  supplied  by  a potter  called  Kitamura  Denzae- 
mon,  who  had  once  been  employed  at  the  Sarayama 
factory  in  Hizen  and  was  now  working  in  a mine. 
After  some  preliminary  essays  on  a small  scale,  official 
permission  was  obtained  to  establish  a kiln,  and  a con- 
siderable grant  of  money  was  made  by  the  prince  of 
the  house  of  Shimazu.  These  things  happened  in 

154 


WARES  OF  SATSUMA 

1 66 1.  Two  years  later,  Noda  and  the  capitalist 
withdrew  from  the  enterprise,  concluding  that  it 
could  never  become  remunerative.  The  factory  was 
not  closed,  however.  Its  subsequent  history  will  be 
referred  to  by  and  by.  Here  it  will  be  sufficient  to 
note  that  in  1663  this  first  attempt  to  manufacture 
porcelain  in  the  Satsuma  fief  came  to  an  end,  the 
reason  assigned  for  the  failure  being  the  expense  of 
procuring  materials  from  the  distant  island  of  Ama- 
kusa,  which  possessed  the  nearest  beds  of  porcelain 
stone.  More  than  a century  elapsed  before  another 
attempt  was  made,  this  time  by  Kawara  Juzaemon,  a 
potter  of  Tatsumonji.  In  1779  he  commenced  the 
manufacture  of  porcelain  after  the  Arita  style,  but 
although  his  technical  and  artistic  success  was  good, 
he  was  unable  to  find  any  market  for  his  wares. 
About  the  same  period  another  potter,  Imai  Giemon, 
residing  at  Shirawa-machi,  Hirasa,  in  the  Satsuma  dis- 
trict, set  up  a porcelain  factory  at  Wakimoto,  in  the 
same  province,  but  failing  in  his  enterprise  owing  to 
want  of  means,  he  returned  to  Shiramachi  and  told 
his  story  to  Ichiji  Danemon,  head  man  of  the  district. 
The  project  was  now  taken  up  officially,  and  a factory 
was  established  under  Giemon’s  superintendence  at 
Sarayama,  in  the  Tenshin  district  of  Satsuma.  Ex- 
perts were  obtained  from  Hizen,  and  by  using  the 
celebrated  stone  of  Amakusa  in  combination  with 
local  materials,  a porcelain  of  considerable  merit 
was  produced.  It  is  not  likely  that  many  fine  speci- 
mens of  this  ware  exist.  Such  rare  examples  as  are 
met  with  show  that  the  pate  closely  resembles  that 
of  the  Hirado-yaki ; that  the  glaze  is  softer  and 
whiter  than  that  of  Imari,  and  that  the  enamelled 
decoration  is  rather  bold  and  artistic  than  brilliant 

155 


JAPAN 

and  elaborate.  After  the  abolition  of  feudalism 
(1868)  the  factory  passed  into  the  hands  of  Watanabe 
Shichiroemon ; the  use  of  vitrifiable  enamels  was  dis- 
continued, and  only  blue-and-white  porcelain  of  a 
coarse  kind  was  produced. 

Three  specimens  of  Satsuma  porcelain  masses  have 
been  analysed  with  the  following  results : — 


SATSUMA  PORCELAIN  MASSES 


Silica. 

Alumina. 

Iron 

Oxide. 

Limb,  Pot- 
ash, etc. 

Water. 

Specimen  l 

. 79.13 

15-73 

0.32 

3.82 

0.91 

Specimen  2 

. 76.11 

17.49 

1. 41 

5.20 

0.51 

Specimen  3 

• 74-54 

19.08 

1.08 

4-95 

1.07 

These  three 

masses 

are  made 

of  first,  second,  and 

third  quality  Amakusa  stone,  respectively.  The  por- 
celains obtained  from  the  second  and  third  specimens 
were  of  impure  colour  and  coarse  grain ; that  ob- 
tained from  the  first  specimen  was  of  a beautiful  white 
colour,  very  transparent,  and  of  granular  fracture. 
From  analyses  made  by  M.  Korschelt  it  appears  that 
the  constituents  of  Satsuma  porcelain  are  felspar  19.3 1, 
clay  substance  30.37,  and  quartz  48.28. 

The  composition  of  the  Satsuma  clays  has  been 
given  above.  An  analysis  of  the  faience  mass,  by  Mr. 
Korschelt,  shows  the  following  results  : — 


SATSUMA  FAIENCE  MASS 


Specimen  from  Nawashiro-gawa 


Silica.  Alumina. 
63.67  30.04 


Iron 

Oxide. 


Lime,  Pot- 
ash, BTC. 


Water. 


0.38  a.91  3.52 


This  mass  was  found  to  consist  of  two  volume-parts 
of  Kaseda  white  sand  ; one  volume-part  of  Kirishima 
white  clay  ; one  of  Yamakawa  clay,  and  one  of  Mat- 
suga-kubo  clay.  The  faience  produced  was  nearly 
white  in  fracture,  its  yellowish  tinge  only  becom- 

156 


WARES  OF  SATSUMA 

ing  noticeable  on  comparison  with  the  fracture  of 
porcelain. 

It  is  necessary  to  return  for  a moment  to  the  story 
of  Ono  Genriu-in.  In  1663  his  attempt  to  inaugu- 
rate the  manufacture  of  Satsuma  porcelain  failed.  He 
then  applied  his  attention  to  faience,  devoting  all  the 
money  he  possessed  or  could  obtain  to  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  Nishi-yoda  kiln.  In  1665  he  was  able 
to  present  twelve  varieties  of  pottery  to  his  feudal  lord, 
and  in  consequence  of  this  success  he  was  nominated 
a Director  of  Keramic  Industry.  By-and-by  the  local 
authorities  established  a warehouse  in  Kagoshima, 
under  Genriu’s  control,  for  the  sale  of  his  potteries ; 
and  in  1684  he  had  the  honour  of  being  directed  to 
supply  ware  twice  a year  to  the  house  of  Shimazu. 
Genriu  died  in  1690,  but  before  his  death  he  had  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  his  wares  widely  patronised,  and 
over  thirty  families  of  potters  engaged  in  their  manu- 
facture. He  did  not,  however,  make  any  noteworthy 
addition  to  keramic  processes.  The  only  ware  dis- 
tinguished as  Gen7'iu-y aki  was  faience  having  hard, 
reddish  pate  and  dark  brown  glaze  run  in  globules, 
after  the  fashion  of  the  well-known  Chosa  ware  of 
Hochiu.  For  the  rest,  the  description  already  given 
of  Hochiu’s  faience  applies  in  the  main  to  that  of 
Genriu,  except  that  the  latter  was  technically  inferior. 
At  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  Nishi-yoda 
factory  was  closed,  and  the  workmen  moved  to  Tat- 
sumonji,  where  Ono  Saiemon,  sixth  in  descent  from 
Genriu,  now  prosecutes  his  trade.  It  may  be  men- 
tioned here  that  the  potters  of  Tatsumonji  employ  the 
following  materials  in  the  manufacture  of  their 
faience,  viz. : For  the  faience  mass,  live  parts  by 
weight  of  the  clay  found  at  Kurogaki,  in  the  vicinity  ; 

157 


JAPAN 

three  parts  of  a yellowish  clay  found  at  limori,  in  the 
Nishibippu  district ; one  part  of  the  black  earth  of 
Hiroda,  also  in  the  Nishibippu  district;  and  one  part 
of  the  red  earth  of  Moto-gokuraku,  in  the  Takeko 
district.  For  the  glaze,  the  sand  of  Sakimori  and  the 
clays  of  Bippu-mura  and  Oyamada-mura  are  employed. 

The  family  of  the  celebrated  Hochiu,  originator  of 
the  Chosa  faience,  is  now  in  its  ninth  generation,  the 
present  representative  being  Kawara  Gensuke,  who 
carries  on  the  ancestral  occupation  at  Tatsumonji. 
The  factories  at  this  place  suffered  greatly  by  the  abo- 
lition of  feudal  government  in  1868.  Deprived  of 
the  patronage  which  they  had  so  long  enjoyed,  not 
more  than  sixteen  out  of  forty  families  of  potters  could 
continue  their  trade.  That  this  period  of  difficulty 
did  not  end  in  the  complete  prostration  of  the  indus- 
try appears  to  have  been  chiefly  due  to  Gensuke’s  ex- 
ertions. Persistently  encouraging  his  fellow  workmen, 
he  succeeded  at  last  (1882)  in  opening  a trade  with 
Tokyo,  Yokohama,  and  Kobe,  the  result  being  that 
the  potters  of  Tatsumonji  are  now  in  a comparatively 
flourishing  condition.  But  they  no  longer  exhibit 
the  skill  of  former  times  in  the  production  of  coloured 
glazes.  The  demand  for  choice  specimens  of  such 
faience  has  practically  ceased,  and  their  staple  manu- 
factures, whether  decorated  with  vitrifiable  enamels 
or  in  the  style  of  the  old  Hochiu  faience,  are  destined 
chiefly  for  common  use. 

The  family  of  Hoko,  who  did  so  much  for  the  re- 
naissance and  development  of  the  Tatsumonjt-yakt  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  is  now  rep- 
resented by  Kawara  Juzaemon  ; while  Kawara  Tobei’s 
line  is  represented  by  Kawara  Kintaro  and  Kawara 
Yahei. 


158 


WARES  OF  SATSUMA 

As  to  Nawashiro-gawa,  the  principal  potter  at 
present  is  Chin  Jukan,  twelfth  descendant  of  Chin 
Tokichi,  the  Korean  who  has  already  been  mentioned 
as  a contemporary  of  Boku  Heii.  In  1858  Jukan 
was  appointed  head  of  the  Government  factory  at 
Nawashiro-gawa.  At  that  time  hundreds  of  work- 
men were  employed  under  him,  and  the  manufacture 
was  conducted  on  a large  scale.  But  in  1868,  when 
feudalism  was  abolished,  the  factory  had  to  be  closed. 
Subsequently  it  was  opened  under  the  auspices  of  a 
company ; Jukan’s  services  being  still  retained  as 
superintendent.  In  1874  this  company  failed,  and 
the  potters  employed  by  it  were  reduced  to  a state  of 
destitution.  Jukan  then  set  up  on  his  own  account, 
assuming  the  art  name  of  Giokozan.  He  took  several 
of  the  indigent  potters  into  his  employ,  and  succeeded 
in  reviving  the  manufacture  of  the  celebrated  Ni- 
shiki-de  Satsuma  faience.  Two  years  later,  a number 
of  the  old  potteries  at  Nawashiro-gawa  were  re-opened 
under  the  auspices  of  a new  company,  the  Tamano- 
yama  Kaisha.  Of  the  present  state  of  the  industry 
and  the  methods  of  the  potters,  an  excellent  account 
is  given  in  a paper  read  before  the  Asiatic  Society  of 
Japan,  by  Sir  Ernest  Satow,  K.C.M.G.,  His  Bri- 
tannic Majesty’s  Minister,  in  Peking,  the  ablest  of 
Japanese  Sinologues.  Mr.  Satow  writes  thus:  — 

In  February  of  last  year  (1877)  ^ opportunity 

of  visiting  the  Korean  village  of  Tsuboya,  where  I was  most 
hospitably  lodged  and  entertained  by  one  of  the  inhabitants, 
to  whose  care  I had  been  specially  commended  by  a Japanese 
friend.  There  is  nothing  distinctive  in  the  appearance  of 
the  people  or  in  the  architecture  of  their  houses  to  attract 
the  notice  of  a passing  traveller;  they  all  speak  Japanese  as 
their  native  tongue,  and  wear  Japanese  dress ; Tsuboya  is  in 

159 


JAPAN 

fact  just  like  any  other  village.  The  principal  potteries 
belonging  to  the  Koreans  are  situated  on  the  side  of  a hill  to 
the  south  of  the  high  road,  together  with  the  kilns  belonging 
to  the  Tamanoyama  Kaisha,  a company  recently  started  by 
some  Kagoshima  Samurai,  The  Tsuboya  crackle  is  pro- 
duced at  this  establishment  and  at  another  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  road  owned  by  a Korean  named  Chin  Jukan,  but 
most  of  the  villagers  devoted  themselves  to  the  manufacture 
of  common  brown  earthenware.  The  principle  of  the 
division  of  labour  seems  to  be  thoroughly  well  understood 
and  applied  by  these  workmen.  One  will  confine  himself, 
for  instance,  to  the  bodies  of  teapots,  of  which  he  can 
produce  about  a hundred  and  fifty  in  a day ; another  makes 
the  lids,  a third  the  spouts,  a fourth  the  “ ears  or  project- 
ing pieces  into  which  the  handle  Is  inserted,  and  to  a fifth 
Is  assigned  the  joining  of  these  parts  together.  Generally 
the  members  of  a family  work  in  concert,  and  form  a sort  of 
co-operative  society,  which  is  joint  owner  of  a kiln  with 
other  such  societies.  The  clay  used  for  the  coarse  ware  is 
found  at  Isakuda  and  Kannogawa,  near  Ichiku,  and  at 
Terawaki,  Kukino,  and  Noda,  near  Iju-in,  all  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Tsuboya.  Chocolate-coloured,  red,  and  green 
glazes  are  obtained  from  Tomura,  Kammuri-take,  and  Sasa- 
no-dan,  while  Ishiki  furnishes  the  glaze  for  water-jars  and 
other  large  articles  of  the  coarse  kind  of  ware.  Three  sizes 
of  wheels  are  in  use,  the  smallest  of  which  is  formed  of  two 
wooden  disks  about  three  inches  thick,  the  upper  one  being 
fifteen  inches,  the  lower  eighteen  inches  in  diameter,  con- 
nected by  four  perpendicular  bars  somewhat  over  seven 
inches  long.  It  is  poised  on  the  top  of  a spindle  planted  in 
a hole  of  sufficient  depth,  which  passes  through  a hole  in  the 
lower  disk  and  enters  a socket  in  the  under  side  of  the  upper 
disk,  and  the  potter,  sitting  on  the  edge  of  the  hole,  turns 
the  wheel  round  with  his  left  foot.  The  largest  wheel  Is 
about  twice  the  size  every  way  of  the  smallest. 

The  kilns  are  built  up  the  face  of  a hill  in  parallel  rows. 
Each  is  divided  into  a number  of  chambers  with  openings  in 
the  intervening  partitions  to  allow  of  the  passage  of  flame 
and  hot  air  from  the  lower  end  of  the  kiln  right  up  to  the 

i6o 


WARES  OF  S A T S U M A 

head,  and  there  are  apertures  in  the  side  of  every  compart- 
ment, a larger  one  for  the  ware  to  be  passed  in  and  out  by, 
which  is  of  course  closed  during  the  firing,  and  a smaller  one 
through  which  the  workmen  in  charge  can  watch  the  prog- 
ress of  the  baking.  The  fuel  is  placed  in  the  lowest 
chamber,  which  is  about  six  feet  square,  and  consists  of  split 
pine  logs  about  two  feet  in  length  and  a couple  of  inches  in 
diameter.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  or  sixty  bundles  of  wood 
are  required  for  a single  firing,  which  usually  lasts  about 
thirty-six  hours.  No  stands  are  used  for  the  brown  earthen- 
ware while  it  is  being  baked,  but  the  articles  are  piled  on 
each  other,  every  second  one  being  upside  down ; they  con- 
sequently adhere  together  slightly  when  brought  out  of  the 
kiln,  but  a slight  tap  with  a piece  of  wood  is  sufficient  to 
separate  them.  Between  the  heavier  pieces,  such  as  the 
large  jars  used  for  packing  tea,  small  bits  of  dry  clay  are 
inserted  to  keep  them  apart.  The  glaze  is  put  on  by 
immersion,  the  article,  as  for  instance  a teapot,  is  dipped 
into  the  liquid  upside  down,  in  such  a manner  that  very 
little  gets  inside,  and  then  being  quickly  reversed,  is  set  on 
its  base,  so  that  the  glaze  flows  down  pretty  equally  all 
round.  When  dry  the  glaze  is  of  a yellowish-gray  opaque 
colour,  and  it  is  put  on  before  the  article  is  subjected  to  any 
process  of  firing. 

The  material  used  for  the  finer  kind  of  earthenware, 
that  is,  saishiki-de  or  painted  ware,  and  nishiki-de^  into  the 
decoration  of  which  gold  enters  as  well  as  colours,  consists 
of  white  clay  from  three  localities,  namely.  Mount  Kirishima, 
Ibusuki,  and  the  gold  mine  at  Yamagano,  of  white  stone 
from  Kaseda  and  Kushiki,  and  of  white  sand  from  Kominato. 
Ibusuki  supplies  in  addition  a second  kind  of  clay,  called 
bara^  which  is  said  to  be  very  brittle,  and  no  doubt  is  the 
ingredient  which  gives  somewhat  of  the  character  of  porcelain 
to  certain  pieces  of  the  ware.  The  Kaseda  stone  is  used 
also  for  glazing  when  powdered  and  mixed  with  the  ashes  of 
nara  wood  (Quercus  glandulifera),  or  some  other  sort  of 
hard  timber. 

The  clay  and  stone  are  well  pounded,  soaked  in  water, 
and  passed  several  times  through  a fine  sieve  placed  over  a 

VOL.  VIII, II  i5i 


JAPAN 

receiver.  The  minute  particles  which  settle  at  the  bottom 
are  then  taken  up  and  dried  on  boards.  To  this  process 
is  given  the  name  of  midzu-boshiy  or  water-drying,  and  it  is 
common  to  all  branches  of  the  manufacture.  For  the  fine 
white  earthenware  four  kinds  of  clay,  together  with  bara  and 
white  Kaseda  sand,  which  have  been  previously  subjected  to 
midzu-boshiy  are  mixed  in  certain  proportions  known  to  the 
experienced  workman.  Lumps  of  this  stuff  are  placed  upon 
wooden  blocks,  and  pounded  with  hammers  to  the  extent 
of  about  three  thousand  blows,  by  which  it  is  brought  into 
the  state  of  raw  material ; but,  previously  to  being  actually 
converted  into  clay  for  the  potter’s  use,  it  requires  about 
three  thousand  blows  more.  It  is  considered  to  improve  in 
quality  the  longer  it  is  kept. 

The  kilns  in  which  nishiki-de  and  saishiki-de  are  baked 
are  one-celled,  and  built  of  clay  upon  a foundation  of  brick, 
with  walls  about  six  Japanese  inches  thick.  Fire  is  kindled 
in  the  mouth  of  a passage  which  projects  from  the  front 
of  the  kiln,  and  the  hot  air  passes  up  this  to  the  chamber, 
where  it  can  circulate  freely  round  the  muffle,  in  which  the 
biscuit  is  deposited.  The  largest  of  these  kilns  have  the 
following  dimensions : — 


EXTERNALLY 

Height  5. 5 feet  (Japanese  measure) . 

Diameter 4.5  feet. 

Height  of  hot-air  passage  . 5.0  feet. 

Width  . . . 


INTERNALLY 

Height 4.5  feet. 

Diameter 3.5  feet. 

Height  of  hot-air  passage  . 1.2  feet. 

. . 0.9  feet. 


A space  of  four  inches  in  width  is  left  between  the  muffle 
and  the  inner  wall  of  the  kiln.  For  nishikide  three  firings 
are  necessary ; first,  the  su-yaki,  after  which  the  glaze  is  put 
on ; secondly,  the  honyaki,  after  which  the  piece  is  painted 
and  gilded ; and  thirdly,  slow  and  gradual  firing,  which 
develops  the  colours ; the  durations  being  twenty-four, 
forty-eight,  and  ten  hours  respectively.  During  the  last 
firing  the  temperature  is  observed  from  time  to  time  through 
an  aperture  near  the  top,  the  test  employed  being  a piece 
of  pottery  marked  with  various  pigments,  which  gradually 
assume  the  desired  tints  as  the  heat  increases. 

162 


WARES  OF  SATSUMA 

A memorandum  drawn  up  by  an  official  of  the  Kagoshima 
prefecture,  for  presentation  to  the  Commission  which  pre- 
sided over  the  Industrial  Exhibition  held  last  autumn  in 
Yedo,  gives  the  composition  of  the  pigments  used  for 
producing  the  various  colours  of  the  fine  Satsuma  wares. 
Dr.  Edward  Divers,  F.R.S.,  Professor  of  Chemistry  at  the 
Imperial  College  of  Engineering,  has  kindly  examined 
specimens  of  these  materials  in  Yedo,  and  has  furnished  me 
with  their  English  names.  The  mixtures  for  the  various 
colours  are  as  follows  : — 

Red  — Ground  white  glass,  soft  or  lead  variety  (shiratama 
no  ko^  ; white  lead  {to  no  tsuchi) ; colcothar  or  red  oxide  of 
iron  {beni-gard)}  and  a silicious  earth  called  hinoka  tsuchi. 

Green  — Ground  white  glass;  white  lead;  copper  oxy- 
chloride {roku-shyd)  and  silicious  earth. 

Yellow  — Ground  white  glass;  red  lead  {komeitan) ; silicious 
earth  and  metallic  antimony  {toshirome). 

White  — Ground  white  glass,  silicious  earth,  and  white 
lead. 

Blue  — Ground  glass  and  smalt  (a  ground  blue  glass,  the 
colour  of  which  is  due  to  a cobalt  compound;  the  Japanese 
name  is  bana  konjyo). 

Purple  — Ground  white  glass,  white  lead,  and  manganese. 

Black  — Ground  white  glass,  white  lead,  an  earthy  man- 
ganese ore  containing  a little  cobalt  {wensei)  and  a very 
silicious  carbonate  of  copper,  apparently  ground  and  elutriated 
malachite  {shionuki-roku  shyo). 

At  the  pottery  belonging  to  Chin  Jukan  I saw  a group 
being  modelled  in  the  white  clay,  which  after  baking  and 
glazing  assumes  a light  cream  colour  and  becomes  what  is 
known  as  Satsuma  crackle.  These  articles  were  intended 
to  be  decorated  later  on  with  gilding  and  colours.  The 
potters  here  possessed  only  two  old  pieces  of  plain  ware, 
a chbji-buro  and  a figure  of  a child  playing  with  a diminutive 
puppy.  The  chbji-buro  is  a utensil  formerly  of  two  pieces, 
namely,  a brazier  and  a boiler  on  the  top  of  it,  and  is 
intended  for  distilling  oil  of  cloves,  though  in  practice  it 

^ Dr.  Divers  informs  me  that  benigara  is  a corruption  of  Bengal,  whence 
this  substance  was  formerly  obtained. 

163 


JAPAN 

is  used  merely  as  an  ornament.  The  artists  were  employed 
in  modelling  figures  of  Kwan-on  and  Dharma  in  white  clay, 
with  the  conventional  face  and  robes  given  to  Buddhist 
personages,  and  toes  all  of  the  same  length.  A third  was 
engaged  upon  a tiger,  sitting  up  in  a cat-like  posture,  in- 
tended to  be  two  and  a-half  Japanese  feet  in  height  when 
finished.  Most  of  their  figures  are  modelled  from  drawings 
in  Indian  ink,  but  the  coloured  designs  are  laid  on  from 
memory.  Until  fourteen  years  ago  a ware  called  Bekko-yaki 
was  made  at  this  village,  the  colours  of  which  were  intended 
to  imitate  tortoise-shell.  It  was  a common  ware,  and  used  to 
be  exported  to  Nagasaki  in  large  quantities.  A piece  of 
this,  said  to  be  old,  which  was  exhibited  to  me,  had  green 
blotches,  as  well  as  the  two  usual  colours,  yellow  and  brown. 

At  the  Tamanoyama  Company’s  establishment  all  sorts 
of  ware  are  produced,  common  brown  pottery,  inferior  blue- 
and-white,  and  highly  gaudy  crackle.  Here  I found  a 
workman  engaged  in  modelling  a statuette  of  Christ  after 
a sentimental  woodcut  in  a religious  periodical  called  the 
‘‘  Christian  Observer ; ” he  had  copied  the  face  and  beard 
with  considerable  accuracy,  but  had  draped  the  body  and 
limbs  in  the  robes  of  a Buddhist  priest.  Some  stoves  of 
brown  earthenware,  imitated  from  American  iron  stoves, 
were  already  ready  for  the  kiln  ; their  price  was  to  be  seven 
dollars  delivered  in  Yedo.  I saw  also  some  huge  white 
vases  of  monstrous  shape,  composed  of  hexagons,  circles, 
squares,  piled  up  as  it  were  pell-mell,  the  result  of  an  at- 
tempt at  originality,  unhampered  by  traditional  notions  of 
form. 

The  account  given  of  themselves  by  the  Korai  jin  (as  they 
are  called)  is  that  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  village,  peasants 
as  well  as  potters,  are  descended  from  Koreans  brought 
over  during  the  period  Keiho  (1596-1615)  by  a Satsuma 
samurai  named  Ijuin.  Until  about  three  years  ago  they 
wore  their  hair  tied  up  in  a knot  at  the  top  of  the  head,  but 
most  of  them  now  wear  the  Japanese  queue,  or  cut  their 
hair  in  the  style  which  has  been  introduced  from  abroad. 
They  informed  me  that  in  former  days  they  dressed  them- 
selves in  their  own  costume  on  special  occasions,  as  for 

164 


WARES  OF  SATSUMA 

instance  when  they  went  forth  to  salute  the  prince  of  Satsuma 
as  he  passed  through  their  village  on  his  way  up  to  Yedo. 
One  of  the  potters  was  good  enough  to  put  on  this  dress 
in  order  to  give  me  an  idea  of  the  appearance  which  they 
presented.  He  began  by  drawing  on  a pair  of  wide  trousers 
of  dark  blue  silk,  of  a very  delicate  material,  differing  from 
the  ordinary  Japanese  hakama  in  having  a division  between 
the  legs,  but  tied  on  in  the  same  way,  that  is,  the  front  part 
was  tied  on  by  strings  which  passed  round  the  waist,  and 
then  the  back  piece  was  fastened  by  strings  in  a double 
bow-knot  in  front.  Next  he  threw  over  his  shoulders  a 
wide-sleeved  mantle  or  haori  of  like  colour  and  texture, 
the  sleeves  of  which  were  not  sewn  up  in  pockets,  as  those 
of  the  clothes  worn  by  adult  Japanese  usually  are,  and 
fastened  it  with  strings  on  the  right  side  of  the  waist. 
Finally,  he  crowned  himself  with  a long  conical  black  cap, 
edged  with  white.  He  also  produced  a broad-brimmed 
black  hat,  apparently  woven  of  the  stem  of  a kind  of 
creeper.  The  knowledge  of  the  Korean  language  is  still 
kept  up  by  some  among  them,  whose  duty  it  is  to  interpret 
between  cast-away  Korean  junkmen  and  the  Japanese  officials. 
Before  the  destruction  of  the  monasteries,  the  inhabitants  of 
the  village  belonged  to  the  Buddhist  sect  Tendaishu,  which 
was  no  doubt  that  of  their  ancestors  in  their  native  country. 
At  present  they  are  under  the  protection  of  a Japanese  deity, 
whose  shrine,  called  Gyoku-san-Gu,  stands  on  a hill  south- 
west of  the  village.  In  front  of  the  shrine  stand  a couple 
of  lanterns  of  white  ware  with  a blue  design,  presented  by 
the  potters  belonging  to  sixteen  out  of  the  seventeen 
families,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  names  inscribed  on  the 
pedestals.  The  tombs  in  the.  cemetery,  which  lies  at  the 
side  of  the  path  to  this  temple,  do  not  differ  in  any  marked 
manner  from  Japanese  tombs,  which  is  what  we  should 
expect  to  find,  as  the  style  of  sepulchral  monuments  in 
Japan  is  essentially  Indian-Buddhist,  and  most  likely  derived 
through  Korea.  It  appears  that  these  people  marry  freely 
amongst  themselves,  identity  of  surname  not  being  con- 
sidered an  obstacle  as  it  is  in  China,  but  seldom  intermarry 
with  Japanese,  except  they  be  members  of  the  samurai  class. 

165 


JAPAN 

I gathered,  in  fact,  from  the  conversation  of  the  villagers, 
that  they  considered  themselves  much  superior  to  the 
aboriginal  natives  of  the  country  to  which  their  ancestors 
had  been  transplanted. 

Something  has  been  said  above  to  warn  the  collector 
that  among  specimens  of  so-called  ‘‘  old  Satsuma  ” 
offered  for  sale  he  must  expect  to  find  an  immense 
majority  of  spurious  pieces.  As  this  part  of  the  sub- 
ject has  very  practical  interest,  it  may  be  well  to 
briefly  describe  the  various  kinds  of  deception  now 
commonly  practised.  First  and  most  difficult  to 
detect  is  faience  of  which  the  pate  is  old  and  the 
decoration  new.  Numerous  pieces  of  this  have  been 
sold  at  large  prices  during  the  past  fifteen  years ; for 
the  production  of  undecorated  ivory-white  ware  at 
Nawashiro-gawa  factories  was  very  considerable  before 
the  Restoration  (i868).  When  a specimen  of  white 
Satsuma-yaki  comes  into  the  hands  of  a dealer,  his 
common  practice  is  to  send  it  to  the  atelier  of  a Tokyo 
decorator.  A number  of  these  artists  live  in  the  cap- 
ital. Their  skill  is  admirable.  In  respect  of  delicate 
work  and  elaboration  of  detail,  they  suffer  nothing 
by  comparison  with  the  best  of  their  predecessors. 
Where  they  fail  is  in  the  preparation  of  enamels. 
Want  of  ability  in  this  important  branch  of  the  dec- 
orator’s art,  or  perhaps  the  necessity  of  economy, 
induces  them  to  substitute  pigments,  the  consequence 
being  a loss  of  richness  and  brilliancy.  When  they 
do  employ  enamels  freely,  these  seldom  show  the 
lustre,  purity,  and  fine  colour  of  the  early  potters’ 
productions.  Before  receiving  its  decoration  the 
faience  has  generally  to  be  re-stoved,  in  order  to 
remove  all  impurities.  After  decoration  it  must,  of 

i66 


WARES  OF  SATSUMA 

course,  be  stoved  once  more.  The  result  of  such 
treatment  is  that  not  only  does  the  piece  lose  any 
mellowness  due  to  age,  but  the  regularity  of  its 
crackle  is  impaired,  and  much,  if  not  the  whole,  of 
the  ivory-like  surface  that  constitutes  the  chief  beauty 
of  old  Satsuma,  disappears.  The  final  process  is  to 
steep  the  specimen  in  tea  or  acid.  It  emerges  stained, 
and  covered  in  parts,  sometimes  entirely,  with  a 
network  of  black  or  dark  brown  crackle.  A very 
little  experience  should  enable  amateurs  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  dingy  look  of  this  medicated 
ware  and  the  soft  mellow  glow  of  the  genuine  Sat- 
suma-yaki.  Such  experience,  however,  seems  slow 
to  come,  for  to  this  day  numerous  specimens  of 
false  Satsuma  find  ready  purchasers  in  America  and 
France. 

In  the  second  class  of  dealer’s  ‘‘  treasures  ” pate  and 
decoration  are  both  new.  Much  of  this  ware  has 
genuine  merits  of  its  own,  and  is  honestly  sold  on  its 
merits.  Ninety-nine  pieces  out  of  every  hundred  are 
decorated  in  Tokyo  or  Kobe.  The  designs  are  elab- 
orate. Figures  are  among  the  most  favourite  subjects  : 
their  flesh  and  drapery  offer  an  easy  field  for  employ- 
ing the  crude  pigments  of  the  modern  decorator. 
There  is  usually  a profusion  of  diapers,  one  object  being 
to  conceal,  rather  than  to  expose,  the  surface  of  the 
faience.  Sometimes,  especially  in  the  case  of  pieces 
decorated  in  Kobe,  the  faience  is  not  allowed  to 
appear  at  all,  being  entirely  covered  with  gold  pig- 
ments and  a little  enamel.  The  best  of  these 
specimens  are  distinguished  by  miniature  painting 
wonderfully  fine  and  elaborate.  When  it  is  desired 
to  simulate  age,  medication,  roughness  of  decoration, 
and  trituration  with  dirt  are  resorted  to.  Those  who 

167 


JAPAN 

are  capable  of  being  deceived  by  such  devices  must 
buy  their  experience.  It  may  help  them,  however, 
to  know  that  the  presence  of  a dull  black  or  brown 
pigment  in  the  decoration  is  an  infallible  sign  of 
modern  work. 

The  third  class  of  wares  often  sold  as  ‘‘  old  Satsuma  ” 
are  not  Satsuma  faience  at  all.  They  are  manufactured 
in  Kyoto,  Owari,  or  at  Ota,  near  Yokohama.  These 
will  be  noticed  in  their  proper  places.  It  will  be 
enough  to  say  here  that  the  trade  in  them  has  virtu- 
ally ceased. 

The  average  number  of  specimens  of  genuine  old 
Satsuma  enamelled  faience  that  have  been  offered 
annually  for  sale  in  Japan  during  the  past  fifteen  years 
is  probably  from  five  to  ten,  and  not  more  than  one- 
half  of  these  have  left  the  country.  These  facts 
ought  to  teach  collectors  in  Europe  and  America 
what  to  expect. 

Readers  who  have  followed  the  above  history  with 
care  need  scarcely  be  reminded  that  ivory-like  craquele  * 
faience,  with  decoration  in  gold  and  coloured  enamels, 
is  by  no  means  the  only  Satsuma-yaki  worthy  of  note, 
though  Western  collectors  have  hitherto  concentrated 
their  attention  on  it  to  the  exclusion  of  other  varieties. 
Even  though  the  connoisseur  confine  himself  to  faience 
manufactured  with  the  well-known  white  pdte  of  the 
Nawashiro  workshops,  he  finds,  in  addition  to 
enamelled  surfaces,  the  four  rare  monochromes  men- 
tioned above  ; namely,  apple-green,  straw-yellow,  pure 
black,  and  gold-dust  black.  Every  one  of  these  is 
beautiful  and  attractive.  The  charm  of  the  green 
and  yellow  glazes  is  greatly  enhanced  by  their  minute 
crackle,  and  the  soft  lustre  of  the  black  will  bear 
comparison  with  its  Chinese  rival.  Owing  to  their 

i68 


WARES  OF  SATSUMA 

exceeding  scarcity,  the  first  two  kinds  are  almost  be- 
yond the  reach  of  ordinary  collectors,  but  examples 
of  black  glazes  may  be  met  with  occasionally.  In 
producing  them,  Saburo-hei,  son  of  the  celebrated 
Hochiu,  is  said  to  have  exhibited  unique  skill,  but  it 
should  be  noted  that,  in  nine  cases  out  of  every  ten, 
the  pate  over  which  these  black  glazes  are  run  is 
reddish  brown  in  colour,  and,  though  not  less  fine,  is 
heavier  than  the  pdte  of  the  enamelled  variety,  while 
the  glazes  themselves  are  without  crackle.  To  the 
white-/>^/^’  class  belongs  also  the  remarkable  tortoise- 
shell glaze,  so  little  known  outside  Japan.  Though, 
perhaps,  less  charming  than  curious,  it  exhibits 
wonderful  technical  skill,  and  is  deservedly  held  in 
high  esteem.  Passing,  then,  to  the  characteristic 
reddish  brown  pate  of  the  Chosa,  Tatsumonji,  and 
Tadeno  factories,  there  are  quite  a number  of  glazes 
all  showing  delicate  or  rich  effects  of  colour  and  all 
admirably  manufactured  and  applied.  Of  these  the 
rarest  is  the  yakatsu-gusuri,  or  glaze  run  in  large 
globules,  the  earliest  Chosa-yaku  Descended  from  it 
is  the  Same-gusun\  or  shark’s-skin  glaze,  with  a finely 
shagreened  surface,  light  brown  and  somewhat  dull. 
This  last  cannot  be  classed  among  the  choice  products 
of  the  Satsuma  kilns.  Very  much  commoner  and 
more  attractive  is  the  Namako-gusuri^  or  flambe  glaze, 
sometimes  called  Seto-gusuri,  though  it  bears  little  real 
resemblance  to  the  Owari  faience.  In  this  a rich 
brown,  occasionally  verging  upon  chocolate,  is  flecked 
or  overrun  with  transparent  blue  or  green.  Then 
there  is  the  tea-green  variety,  in  which  are  included 
many  shades  of  colour,  olive,  greenish  brown,  dead- 
leaf  brown,  and  green  fading  into  grey.  In  these  the 
overglaze  — for  all  the  Satsuma-yaki  now  in  question 

169 


JAPAN 

has  two  and  even  three  superposed  glazes  — usually 
assumes  the  form  of  white  flecking  or  splashing,  but 
not  infrequently  the  body-glaze  is  light  brown  and 
the  upper  glaze  tea-green  without  any  flecking.  The 
glazes,  though  thin,  are  soft  and  solid,  and  nothing 
can  exceed  the  skill  with  which  they  are  applied.  In 
a majority  of  cases  they  are  run  so  as  to  leave  uncov- 
ered a portion  of  the  pate  at  the  lower  part  of  the 
specimen,  a tour  de  force  most  characteristic  of  the  tea- 
green  class.  There  is  further  the  iron-dust  glaze, 
brownish  red  with  minute  black  spotting,  often 
relieved  by  blue  flecks  or  splashes  similar  to  those  of 
the  Namako  variety.  This  Tessha-gusuri  is,  on  the 
whole,  the  most  easily  procurable.  Its  manufacture 
was  carried  down  to  the  middle  of  the  present  cen- 
tury. Late  specimens  may  be  detected  by  their 
comparatively  coarse,  porous  pate  and  the  crude  ap- 
pearance of  their  glaze.  By  recent  connoisseurs  the 
Namako  variety  has  been  distinguished  as  Satsuma 
Izumi,  from  the  name  of  a factory  in  the  north  of  the 
province  where  similar  faience  is  even  now  produced. 
But  the  outcome  of  this  kiln  is  coarse  and  altogether 
inferior  to  the  faiences  of  Tatsumonji,  Nawashiro, 
and  Tadeno.  In  fact,  the  Izumi  faience  is  among  the 
cheapest  and  rudest  wares  of  every-day  use  in  Japan, 
whereas  the  varieties  described  above  belong  to  a high 
range  of  keramic  skill.  Unfortunately,  as  is  too  often 
the  case  with  respect  to  choice  Japanese  glazes,  speci- 
mens of  these  fine  wares  are  nearly  always  small  and 
insignificant,  as  tea-jars,  cups,  sake-hott\ts,  ewers,  and 
censers. 

Enough  has  already  been  said  about  Satsuma  porce- 
lain— generally  known  in  Japan  as  Hirasa-yaki  — 
and  of  faience  having  blue  decoration  sous  couverte. 

170 


WARES  OF  SATSUMA 

These  two  varieties  complete  the  list  of  fine  Satsuma 
wares.  There  remain  to  be  noted  two  descriptions, 
which,  in  addition  to  the  scantness  of  their  merits 
from  an  artistic  or  technical  point  of  view,  possess  no 
claim  to  originality.  They  are  Mishima  Satsuma  and 
Sunkoroku  Satsuma.  The  former  is  copied  directly 
from  the  Korean  ware  described  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  which  derived  its  name  from  the  fact  that  its 
decoration  resembled  the  vertically  disposed  lines  of 
ideographs  in  the  Mishima  almanack.  It  is  hard, 
reddish  brown  stone-ware,  the  decoration  effected  by 
inlaying  white  slip  in  the  pate,  and  the  glaze  is  light 
grey.  Large  jars  of  this  faience  are  common  objects 
in  Japanese  confectioners’  shops ; they  present  the 
aspect  of  pieces  covered  with  corduroy.  In  some 
specimens  the  ugliness  is  relieved  by  horizontal  lines, 
bands  of  stars,  fringes  of  scallops,  or  decoration  a gerbe. 
The  ware  belongs  to  the  same  type  as  the  celebrated 
Yatsushiro-yaki,  to  be  spoken  of  by  and  by,  but  having 
been  manufactured  solely  for  the  most  ordinary  uses, 
little  care  was  expended  upon  it.  Occasionally  the 
formal  designs  of  the  Mishima  Satsuma  are  traced 
in  black. 

The  second  variety,  or  Sunkoroku  Satsuma,  is  copied 
from  a faience  of  archaic  character  manufactured  near 
Aden,  and  valued  by  the  Japanese  for  the  sake  of  its 
curiosity  and  foreign  origin.  The  pate  is  stone-grey, 
tolerably  hard,  but  designedly  less  fine,  than  that  of 
choice  Satsuma  wares.  The  glaze  is  translucid,  and 
the  decoration  consists  of  zigzags,  scrolls,  diapers,  and 
tessellations  in  dark  brown  obtained  from  the  juice 
of  the  Kaki.  The  Indian  affinities  of  this  type 
are  unmistakable.  It  is  not  without  interest,  but 
a somewhat  coarse  grey  faience  with  purely  con- 

171 


JAPAN 

ventional  designs  in  dark  brown  certainly  cannot 
boast  many  attractions.  The  original  ware  of  Aden 
is,  in  some  cases,  redeemed  from  utter  homeliness 
by  a curious  purplish  tinge  which  the  glaze  assumes 
in  places. 


172 


Chapter  IV 

WARES  OF  KTOro 

KAEMPFER,  writing  of  Kyoto  — or  Miako 
(capital),  as  he  calls  it  — in  1690,  says: 
‘‘  Miako  is  the  great  magazine  of  all  Jap- 
anese manufactures  and  commodities,  and 
the  chief  mercantile  town  in  the  Empire.  There  is 
scarce  a house  in  this  large  capital  where  there  is  not 
something  made  or  sold.  Here  they  refine  copper, 
coin  money,  print  books,  weave  the  richest  stuffs 
with  gold  and  silver  flowers.  The  best  and  scarcest 
dyes,  the  most  artful  carvings,  all  sorts  of  musical  in- 
struments, pictures,  japanned  cabinets,  all  sorts  of 
things  wrought  in  gold  and  other  metals,  particularly 
in  steel,  as  the  best  tempered  blades  and  other  arms, 
are  made  here  in  the  utmost  perfection,  as  are  also  the 
richest  dresses  and  after  the  best  fashion,  all  sorts  of 
toys,  puppets  moving  their  heads  of  themselves, 
and  numberless  other  things  too  many  to  be  here 
mentioned.  In  short,  there  is  nothing  can  be 
thought  of  but  what  may  be  found  at  Miako,  and 
nothing,  though  never  so  neatly  wrought,  can  be 
imported  from  abroad  but  what  some  artist  or  other 
in  this  capital  will  undertake  to  imitate  it.  Con- 
sidering this,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  manufactures 
of  Miako  are  become  so  famous  throughout  the  Em- 
pire as  to  be  easily  preferred  to  all  others,  though 
perhaps  inferior  in  some  particulars,  only  because  they 

173 


JAPAN 

have  the  name  of  being  made  there.  There  are  but 
few  houses  in  all  the  chief  streets  where  there  is  not 
something  to  be  sold,  and  for  my  part  I could  not 
help  wondering  whence  they  can  have  customers 
enough  for  such  an  immense  quantity  of  goods. 
’T  is  true,  indeed,  there  is  scarce  anybody  passes 
through  Miako  but  what  buys  something  or  other  of  ' 
the  manufactures  of  this  city,  either  for  his  own 
use,  or  for  presents  to  be  made  to  his  friends  and 
relatives.” 

During  the  first  seven  centuries  of  its  existence 
Kyoto  was  scarcely  ever  in  a condition  adapted  to  the 
development  of  art  industry.  In  794,  when  the  Em- 
peror Kwammu  moved  the  Imperial  residence  thither, 
the  place  was  little  more  than  an  insignificant  village. 
At  first  its  growth  was  rapid,  for,  as  is  shown  by  the 
relics  preserved  at  Nara,  the  previous  seat  of  Govern- 
ment, even  in  those  early  days  Japanese  Court  life 
was  highly  refined.  But  on  the  whole  the  habits  of 
the  nation  were  simple.  Class  distinctions  did  not 
yet  exist.  Every  man  capable  of  bearing  arms  was  a 
soldier.  When  his  services  were  required,  he  took 
the  field,  and  when  peace  was  restored,  he  returned 
to  the  bread-earning  occupation  which  he  had  before 
pursued.  The  gradual  advent  of  a social  state  in 
which  one  section  of  the  people  ministered  to  the 
luxurious  proclivities  of  the  other,  was  accompanied 
by  the  rise  of  three  great  families,  the  Minamoto,  the 
Taira,  and  the  Fujiwara,  whose  feuds  devastated  the 
country  for  five  centuries.  Students  of  Japanese  his- 
tory are  familiar  with  the  terrible  succession  of  civil 
wars  of  that  era,  the  effects  of  which  culminated  in 
the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  when  Kyoto  was 
practically  a mass  of  ruins,  and  the  court  nobility  were 

174 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

compelled  to  seek  shelter  and  sustenance  in  the  castles 
of  the  feudal  lords  throughout  the  provinces.  The 
Emperors  were  for  the  most  part  poor  even  to  em- 
barrassment, — so  poor  that  on  the  death  of  one  of 
them  (1500)  the  corpse  remained  without  burial  for 
forty  days  because  means  were  wanting  to  perform 
the  funeral  rites  prescribed  by  etiquette.  Under  such 
circumstances  the  keramic  art,  in  Japan  always  more 
or  less  dependent  on  patronage,  was  not  likely  to 
flourish  in  Kyoto.  Passing,  however,  to  the  times 
of  Yoshimasa  (1480)  and  the  Taiko  (1580),  it  may  be 
supposed  that  the  potter's  trade  would  have  grown 
and  prospered  under  the  protection  of  these  munifi- 
cent art  patrons.  Some  impetus  it  certainly  did 
receive,  but  nothing  that  could  have  presaged  its 
ultimate  fame.  The  Taiko  ordered  experts  to  be 
brought  from  Korea,  and  the  reader  knows  already 
how  large  a debt  Japanese  keramics  owed  to  this  step. 
But  the  great  general  and  statesman  died  before  he 
could  direct  the  employment  of  these  potters.  Had 
he  lived  a few  years  longer,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  he  would  have  established  several  of  the  Koreans 
in  Kyoto,  and  that  the  story  of  the  Imperial  city's  in- 
dustry would  now  have  to  be  told  differently.  On 
his  decease  things  were  ordered  in  a fashion  at  vari- 
ance with  his  original  purpose.  The  Koreans  were 
distributed  throughout  the  provincial  factories,  and 
there  was  not  found  in  Kyoto  any  nobleman  disposed 
or  competent  to  pursue  the  art  programme  traced  by 
the  Taiko,  The  city,  it  should  be  observed,  was  chiefly 
the  residence  of  the  Kuge,  or  Court  Nobles,  — men 
who,  though  superior  to  the  provincial  magnates  in 
rank,  were  far  inferior  in  wealth  and  authority.  After 
the  Taiko' s death,  too,  there  occurred  between  his 

US 


JAPAN 

son  Hideyori  and  the  renowned  lyeyasu,  founder  of 
the  Tokugawa  dynasty  of  Regents,  a feud  which  ended 
in  the  partial  destruction  of  the  splendid  castle  at 
Osaka,  and  temporarily  checked  the  prosperity  which 
had  begun  to  smile  upon  Kyoto  after  such  a long  in- 
terval of  suffering  and  disturbance.  It  may  be  said 
that  the  condition  of  keramics  in  this  city  first  began 
to  deserve  attention  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  Previous  to  that  time  the  potter's  art  had 
been  regarded  as  a species  of  genteel  pastime,  and  had 
been  practised  by  dilettanti  who  proposed  to  them- 
selves no  very  high  ideal  and  were  good-naturedly 
appreciative  of  one  another's  achievements. 

The  first  Kyoto  potter  of  whom  there  is  any  record 
was  a scion  of  the  Imperial  family.  This  was  Prince 
Unrin-in  Yasuhito,  seventh  son  of  the  Emperor  Nim- 
myo.  In  the  year  851  he  is  said  to  have  settled  at 
Kami-yama,  in  the  Shigaraki  district  of  the  province 
of  Omi,  and  there  to  have  commenced  the  manufac- 
ture of  pottery.  His  instructor  in  the  art  was  Imbe 
Kyonushi,  by  some  called  the  father  of  Japanese  ke- 
ramists.  It  is  recorded  that  in  the  year  888,  on  the 
occasion  of  a festival,  Yasuhito  manufactured  a vase 
with  Kami-yama  clay,  and  presented  it  to  the  Emperor 
Uda,  who  as  a reward  raised  him  to  the  fifth  official 
rank  and  authorised  him  to  take  the  family  name  of 
Genji.  Yasuhito  was  thenceforth  known  as  Mina- 
moto  no  Yasuchika  [Gen  is  an  alternative  pronuncia- 
tion of  Minamoto) . As  to  the  nature  of  his  productions 
tradition  is  silent,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they 
were  unglazed  pottery.  Some  antiquarians  have  been 
disposed  to  believe  that  the  art  of  glazing  pottery  was 
known  to  the  experts  of  the  Imperial  city  at  the  time 
when  Yasuchika  flourished.  They  found  this  idea  on 

176 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

the  fact  that  the  tiles  used  for  the  Palace  of  Peace 
[Heianjo)y  built  by  the  Emperor  at  Kyoto  in  794, 
were  covered  with  dark  green  glaze.  It  is,  however, 
almost  beyond  question  that  these  tiles  were  imported 
from  China,  — the  great  majority  of  evidence  says 
from  Cochin  China.  If  it  be  admitted  that  such  man- 
ufactures were  possible  to  the  Japanese  of  the  eighth 
century,  then  there  will  be  no  reason  to  deny  that  the 
‘‘pure  vessels’"  [Seiki)  potted  at  Fushimi  (about  five 
miles  from  Kyoto)  during  the  reign  of  the  Emperor 
Yuriaku  (457-479),  were  also  glazed.  No  such  theory 
will  bear  scrutiny.  Both  the  Seiki  of  Yuriaku’s  time 
and  the  pieces  manufactured  by  Minamoto  no  Yasu- 
chika  were  undoubtedly  a species  of  fine  red  unglazed 
pottery,  such  as  is  used  to  this  day  in  ceremonial  uten- 
sils. When  the  Taiko  received  the  Korean  ambas- 
sadors in  audience  at  Kyoto,  wine  was  handed  round 
in  earthenware  cups,  as  it  would  still  be  on  a similar 
occasion  were  Japanese  usages  observed.  At  the  close 
of  the  fifteenth  century  Prince  Yoshimasa’s  enthusi- 
asm for  the  Cha-no-Tu  ought  to  have  given  a marked 
impulse  to  the  keramic  art.  Such  was  not  the  case, 
however.  It  is  true  that  Yoshimasa  caused  a small 
kiln  to  be  erected  at  his  palace  of  Higashi-yama,  and 
that  his  example  was  followed  by  many  private  per- 
sons. But  the  results  of  these  amateur  efforts  are  de- 
scribed by  Japanese  writers  as  soft,  imperfectly  fired, 
and  generally  defective  faience.  In  fact,  the  nature 
of  this  early  Kyoto  ware  depended  entirely  on  the  ac- 
cidental skill  of  people  who  practised  the  art  as  much 
for  amusement  as  for  profit. 

After  Yoshimasa’s  decease  the  most  renowned  pa- 
tron of  the  Cha-no-Tu  was  Takeda  Shinshiro,  feudal 
chief  of  Inaba  (born  1505,  died  1558),  whose  artist- 

voL.  VIII.  — 12  lyy 


JAPAN 

name  was  Jo-o.  Among  his  associates  and  immediate 
successors  were  three  men,  Sohku,  Shoi,  and  Kohei, 
whose  reputation  as  potters  is  still  preserved  by  devo- 
tees of  the  Tea  Ceremonials.  Like  all  the  Kyoto 
keramists  of  those  days,  they  made  the  manufacture  of 
tea  utensils  not  a profession  but  a pastime,  and,  from 
the  specimens  of  their  work  now  extant,  they  may  be 
said  to  have  followed  the  methods  of  the  Seto  potters 
at  a considerable  distance.  p&te  of  the  tiny  pieces 

ascribed  to  them  is  light  brown,  verging  upon  buff, 
fine  and  tolerably  hard.  The  glaze  is  opaque  and  of 
a dark  mahogany  colour.  It  has  little  lustre,  and  its 
method  of  application  argues  but  scanty  skill.  In  the 
same  century  and  the  beginning  of  the  next,  seven 
names  are  recorded : Genjuro,  Shimbei,  Kosan,  Moe- 
mon,  Kichibei,  Domi,  and  Manemon.  These  amateurs 
were  contemporaries  and  successors  of  Sen  no  Rikiu ; 
they  probably  flourished  between  1560  and  1630.  In 
this  book,  Kanko  Zusetsu^  Mr.  Ninagawa  Noritane 
discusses  at  some  length  the  probable  professions  of 
the  six,  and,  for  the  purpose  of  comparing  their 
merits,  quotes  passages  from  unfamiliar  annals.  It 
would  be  fruitless  to  follow  the  learned  antiquarian 
into  such  dissertations.  What  has  been  said  above  of 
Sohaku  and  his  contemporaries  applies  equally  to  Gen- 
juro, Manemon,  and  the  rest.  They  are  interesting 
for  the  sake  of  the  time  in  which  they  lived,  not  at 
all  for  any  addition  they  made  to  its  keramic  resources. 
A tea-jar  manufactured  by  Moemon  and  depicted  in 
the  Kanko  Zusetsu  shows  that  he,  at  least,  studied  rug- 
gedness and  rusticity  rather  than  beauty  or  technical 
excellence. 

The  reader  will  remember  that  during  the  second 
half  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  Raku  faience,  inau- 

178 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

gurated  by  the  Korean  Ameya,  had  become  a favourite 
ware  with  the  Kyoto  tea-clubs.  The  history  of 
this  Raku-yaki  has  already  been  given.  It  is  referred 
to  here  only  for  the  sake  of  summarising  the  keramic 
productions  of  Kyoto  at  the  beginning  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  They  were:  (i)red,  unglazed  pot- 
tery manufactured  by  Yasuchika  and  others  ; (2)  the 
Raku-yaki^  a coarse  faience  covered  with  black,  yellow, 
white,  or  salmon-coloured  glaze;  (3)  faience  with 
fine  pate  and  glaze  of  dark  chestnut  colour  or  yellow- 
ish brown  ; (4)  unglazed  pottery  having  buff-coloured 
pate  of  great  fineness,  and  decorated  with  black  and 
gold  lacquer  (manufactured  at  Fushimi  and  already 
described  as  Soshiro-yaki) ; and  (5)  faience  having 
greyish  pate,  a craquele  glaze,  showing  a slightly  yel- 
lowish tinge,  and  decoration  of  sketchy  character  in 
blue  or  brown  sous  couverte.  This  last  variety  marks 
the  transition  from  the  comparatively  rude  to  the  re- 
fined and  artistic  stage  of  Kyoto  keramics.  The  blue 
decoration  was  called  ai-e  [ai  signifies  blue ; a pic- 
ture), and  the  brown  was  known  as  shiku-e  (from  shikuy 
the  juice  of  the  Diospyros  kakt).  As  to  the  artists  by 
whom  the  process  of  decorating  faience  with  colours 
under  the  glaze  was  inaugurated  in  Kyoto,  tradition 
says  little.  It  is  tolerably  well  established  that  as 
early  as  the  year  1510,  factories  existed  at  places 
called  Shiru-dani  and  Komatsu-dani,  near  the  temple 
Seikan-ji.  The  names  of  three  potters,  Otoroku,  Oto- 
waya,  and  Kiushichi,  are  associated  with  the  faience 
produced  there  during  the  sixteenth  century.  Their 
pieces  are  described  as  possessing  close  pate  and  toler- 
ably fine  crackle  ; and  it  is  recorded  that  towards  the 
close  of  the  century  designs  in  dark,  impure  blue,  in 
black,  and  in  brown  began  to  be  employed  for  deco- 

179 


JAPAN 

rative  purposes.  To  such  wares  the  terms  Seikan-ji- 
yaki,  Otowa-yaki,  or,  more  generally,  Ko-kyomizu-yaki 
(old  Ky5mizu  ware)  are  indifferently  applied.  But 
it  must  be  confessed  that  this  part  of  the  subject  is 
wrapped  in  considerable  obscurity.  Nor  can  the 
student  wonder  that  it  should  be  so,  having  regard  to 
the  trifling  success  achieved  by  the  manufacture  of 
such  wares.  The  decorative  designs,  though  slight 
and  insignificant,  were  not  without  artistic  merit,  but 
the  colours  and  the  technique  generally  were  of  an 
inferior  order. 

It  is  with  Nomura  Seisuke  (called  also  Seiyemon 
and  Seibei)  that  the  history  of  Kyoto  art-faience 
really  commences.  There  is  no  name  more  renowned 
in  the  catalogue  of  Japanese  keramists.  He  was  a 
scion  of  the  noble  house  of  Fujiwara,  and  in  his  early 
youth,  a pupil  of  Sohaku,  a master  of  Tea  Ceremo- 
nials, from  whom  he  acquired  the  keramic  proclivities 
destined  to  be  afterwards  so  largely  developed.  Some 
doubt  exists  as  to  the  date  of  his  birth,  but  this  is  a 
matter  of  small  moment,  since  collateral  events  deter- 
mine with  sufficient  precision  the  period  when  his 
career  became  really  interesting.  His  native  place 
was  a village  near  the  temple  of  Ninwaji  (pronounced 
Ninnaji)  in  the  environs  of  Ky5to,  and  by  combining 
the  initial  syllable  of  this  word  with  that  of  his  name 
(Seisuke)  there  was  obtained  the  term  ‘‘  Ninsei,”  by 
which  the  man  and  his  works  alike  are  known  to 
posterity. 

Ninsei’s  first  productions  were  simple  pieces  with 
shiku-e  decoration.  By-and-by,  however,  he  made  an 
important  addition  to  his  methods.  The  reader  will 
remember  that  decoration  with  vitrifiable  enamels  was 
practised  at  the  Hyakken  factory  in  Hizen  as  early  as 

i8o 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

1620,  and  that  it  was  carried  to  great  perfection  by  the 
first  Kakiemon  and  his  contemporaries  about  thirty 
years  later.  Naturally,  a considerable  quantity  of  the 
new  ware  found  its  way  to  the  capital,  where  it  excited 
at  once  the  admiration  and  the  envy  of  the  leading  ke- 
ramists.  But  for  a time  the  possibility  of  imitating  it 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  conceived,  since  the  secret 
was  guarded  at  the  Hizen  factories  by  a series  of  the 
most  rigorous  enactments.  It  happened,  however,  that 
between  the  years  1650  and  1655  a certain  Aoyama 
Koemon,  acting  as  agent  for  the  sale  of  the  new 
porcelain,  associated  himself  with  one  Kurobei,  a fai- 
ence vendor  of  Kyoto,  and  was  persuaded  by  the  latter 
to  disclose  the  methods  which  had  won  for  Arita  so 
valuable  a monopoly.  The  unfortunate  Koemon’s 
indiscretion  is  said  to  have  cost  him  his  life,  but  the 
precious  recipe  remained  in  Kurobei’s  possession,  and 
subsequently  passed  into  the  hands  of  Nomura  Ninsei. 
There  is,  therefore,  very  little  risk  of  inaccuracy  in 
ascribing  the  first  manufacture  of  enamelled  faience 
in  Japan  to  the  year  1655. 

These  facts,  elicited  by  independent  research,  re- 
cently received  remarkable  confirmation  from  a scroll 
written  and  signed  by  a Kyoto  potter,  Tsuboya  Roku- 
bei,  in  the  year  1759.  The  scroll  reads  as  follows: 
‘‘During  the  Meirei  era  (1655—1657),  there  came 
from  Saruyama  in  the  province  of  Hizen  a man 
named  Aoyama  Koemon.  From  him  our  ancestor, 
Kurobei,  learned  the  secret  mode  of  manufacturing 
vitrifiable  enamels,  having  bound  himself  by  a solemn 
oath  not  to  reveal  it.  The  circumstance  is  one  to  be 
treasured  in  the  memories  of  keramic  decorators.’’ 

Not  having  made  keramics  his  profession,  Ninsei 
had  no  fixed  workshop.  His  first  productions  were 

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JAPAN 

potted  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  temple  of  Seikan, 
and  at  the  kiln  called  Otowa,  both  of  which  are  in 
the  district  of  Omuro.  Hence  the  origin  of  the  term 
Omuro-yakiy  by  which  these  pieces  are  generally  known. 
Subsequently  he  worked  at  factories  called  Awata, 
Iwakura,  and  Mizoro,  not  only  practising  but  impart- 
ing the  secrets  he  had  acquired.  All  these  places  are 
in  or  near  Kyoto.  Otowa-yama  is  the  name  of  a hill 
which  lies  within  three-quarters  of  a mile  from  the 
Imperial  Palace,  to  the  east.  On  a slope  of  this  hill 
is  the  celebrated  Kyomizu-zaka,  a street  which,  shortly 
after  Ninsei  s time,  became,  and  has  ever  since  remained, 
the  centre  of  the  keramic  industry  of  Kyoto.  Awata 
is  about  a thousand  yards  due  north  of  Kyomizu-zaka. 
Mizoro  lies  four  miles  to  the  northwest  of  Awata. 
The  temple  of  Ninwaji  is  a mile  and  a quarter  to  the 
west  of  the  Palace,  and  Iwakura  is  two  and  a half 
miles  to  the  north  of  Mizoro,  being  thus  more  than 
five  miles  from  Kvoto.  Nomura  Ninsei  made  no 
attempt  to  hide  the  secret  of  his  processes,  but,  a true 
lover  of  his  art,  delighted  to  visit  the  workshops  of 
his  confreresy  and  to  impart  to  them  the  results  of  his 
own  experience  or  receive  those  of  theirs.  No  doubt 
the  remarkably  rapid  development  of  the  Kyoto 
faience  during  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury is  due  in  no  small  degree  to  this  liberality. 

If  Ninsei’s  title  to  fame  rested  solely  upon  the  fact 
that  he  was  the  originator  of  enamelled  faience,  he 
would  deserve  to  be  remembered.  For,  though  he 
did  not  invent  this  process,  his  manner  of  employing 
it  marked  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  his  country’s 
keramics.  Under  his  inspiration  the  wares  of  Kyoto 
assumed  a new  character.  He  was  the  first  to  shake 
himself  entirely  free  from  alien  influences,  whether 

182 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

Chinese  or  Korean,  and  to  adopt  the  ‘‘  natural  style  ** 
now  universally  regarded  as  representative  of  Japan. 
To  whatever  factory  the  student  turns,  some  traces  of 
the  inspiration  of  Ninsei’s  genius  are  discei;nible,  and 
it  is  scarcely  too  much  to  assert  that  almost  every 
decorative  fashion  which  by  its  grace  and  artistic 
fidelity  has  excited  the  admiration  of  Western  critics, 
owes  a large  debt  to  Nomura  Ninsei  and  those  whom 
he  educated.  Nor  is  this  all  that  can  be  said  of  him. 
In  the  eyes  of  his  own  countrymen  he  distinguished 
himself  by  the  improved  technical  processes  he  intro- 
duced much  more  than  by  his  use  of  vitrifiable 
enamels.  Up  to  his  time  the  only  respectable  pieces 
of  Kyoto  faience  were  virtually  accidental  productions. 
Genjiro,  Sohaku,  Shimbei,  and  their  peers  never  mas- 
tered the  details  of  manipulation  and  stoving  so  thor- 
oughly as  to  have  any  confidence  in  their  work  or  to 
establish  any  claim  to  be  called  experts.  They  appear 
to  have  formed  little  conception  of  the  capabilities  of 
crackle,  content  if  only  they  produced  pate  and  glaze 
which  might  bear  comparison  with  their  Seto  models. 
But  in  Ninsei’s  hands  the  faience  of  Kyoto  became 
an  object  of  rare  beauty.  Not  only  was  the  pate  of 
his  pieces  close  and  hard,  but  the  crackle  of  the  grey 
or  cream-coloured  glaze  was  almost  as  regular  as  the 
meshes  of  a spider's  web.  Only  the  most  painstaking 
manipulation  of  materials  and  management  of  tempera- 
ture in  stoving  could  have  accomplished  such  results. 
In  later  and  less  conscientious  times,  the  nature  of  the 
crackle  changed  so  perceptibly  that  this  one  point 
affords  a trustworthy  criterion  of  old  and  fine  ware. 
Ninsei's  crackle  was  nearly  circular.  The  surface  of 
choice  specimens  of  his  handiwork  conveys  the  im- 
pression of  being  covered  with  very  fine  netting, 

183 


JAPAN 

rather  than  with  a tracery  of  intersecting  lines.  Its 
appearance  is  aptly  described  by  the  Chinese  term 
‘‘fish-roe  crackle.’’  Working,  as  he  did,  at  different 
places,  varieties  are  found  in  the  pate  of  his  pieces. 
The  most  common  is  hard,  close-grained  clay,  verg- 
ing upon  brick-red  in  colour,  and  perfectly  free  from 
foreign  particles.  Sometimes  the  colour  changes  to 
yellowish  grey,  and  the  texture  becomes  nearly  as  fine 
as  that  of  pipe-clay.  His  monochrome  glazes  are 
scarcely  less  remarkable  than  his  crackle.  First 
among  them  must  be  placed  metallic  black,  run  over 
grass-green  in  such  a way  that  the  latter  shows  just 
sufficiently  to  correct  any  sombreness  of  effect.  On 
the  surface  of  this  glaze,  or  else  in  reserved  medallions 
of  cream-like  crackle,  are  painted  diapers,  and  chaste 
floral  designs  in  gold,  silver,  red,  and  coloured  enamels. 
Another  glaze  invented  by  him,  and  imitated  success- 
fully by  the  chief  experts  among  his  successors,  is 
pearl-white,  through  which  a pink  blush  seems  to 
spread.  In  golden  brown,  chocolate,  and  buff  he  also 
produced  charming  tints,  and  his  skill  as  a modeller 
was  scarcely  less  than  his  mastery  of  mechanical  de- 
tails. As  a rule  he  marked  his  pieces  with  the  two 
ideographs  Nin-sei  [vide  Marks  and  Seals).  Japanese 
connoisseurs  profess  ability  to  distinguish  the  true  from 
the  false  by  this  cachet  alone.  But  although  Ninsei 
seems  to  have  habitually  subjected  his  graving-tool  to 
greater  pressure  when  commencing  than  when  finish- 
ing a stroke,  thus  offering  a slight  guide  to  the  iden- 
tification of  his  mark,  this  subtle  distinction  is  scarcely 
appreciable  to  foreign  eyes.  The  amateur’s  wisest 
plan  is  to  place  no  reliance  on  the  mark  Nin-sei,  for  it 
has  been  more  extensively  counterfeited  than  the 
cachet  of  any  other  Japanese  artist.  Hundreds,  nay, 

184 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

thousands,  of  comparatively  modern  specimens  of 
Kyoto  ware  thus  marked  are  offered  by  curio-dealers 
to  inexperienced  strangers  as  genuine  specimens  of 
Ninsei-yaki,  Perhaps  it  need  scarcely  be^  said  that 
genuine  specimens  are  very  scarce.  They  do  exist, 
and  find  their  way  into  the  market  from  time  to  time, 
but  their  high  value  in  Japan  — as  much  as  two  or 
three  hundred  dollars  is  readily  paid  for  a small  bowl 
of  the  best  description  — keeps  them  out  of  Western 
collections.  If  it  be  required  to  indicate  tests  of  easy  ap- 
plication for  determining  the  claims  of  a piece  attrib- 
uted to  Ninsei,  they  are,  first,  the  pate^  which  ought  to 
be  very  hard  and  of  brick-red  or  yellowish  grey  colour  ; 
secondly,  the  crackle,  which  should  be  uniform  and  of 
circular  shape ; and  thirdly,  the  enamels,  which  in 
pieces  by  Ninsei  and  his  contemporaries  or  immediate 
successors  are  remarkable  for  combined  richness  and 
softness.  The  second  of  these  characteristics,  if  present 
in  a marked  degree,  will  generally  justify  the  amateur  in 
assigning  a specimen  of  Kyot5  faience,  if  not  to  Ninsei, 
at  any  rate  to  the  century  in  which  Ninsei  lived. 

The  most  renowned  pictorial  artist  of  Ninsei’s 
era  was  Tanyu.  This  painter  and  the  great  keramist 
appear  to  have  been  fast  friends.  It  is  related  that 
they  took  an  equal  interest  in  each  other’s  art,  and 
that  many  of  the  pieces  manufactured  by  Ninsei  bore 
designs  from  the  brush  of  Tanyu  or  his  pupil  Eishin. 
These  designs  were  largely  imitated  at  the  Kyoto  fac- 
tories, and  the  popularity  of  pieces  thus  decorated  was 
shared  by  specimens  copied  from  Chinese  ware  orna- 
mented with  fishes  from  the  brush  of  a Chinese  artist, 
Bokkei,  and  hence  called  Bokkei-hachi,  In  fact,  public 
taste  turned  completely  from  the  sober  and  severe  style 
of  the  Seto  potters.  Decorated  faience  became  the 

185 


JAPAN 

rage,  and  in  some  quarters  of  Kyoto  every  second 
house  had  its  little  workshop  and  kiln. 

The  methods  of  decoration  practised  by  Ninsei  were 
three.  They  are  known  among  Japanese  connois- 
seurs as  shibu-ye^  ai-ye^  and  kin-ye,  or  pictures  in  black 
and  brown,  in  blue,  and  in  enamels  and  gold.  The 
shibu-ye  and  ai-ye  are  found  upon  pieces  manufactured 
by  Ninsei  years  before  he  began  to  employ  enamels. 
It  is  certain  that  when  Aoyama  Koemon’s  recipes 
became  known  in  Kyoto,  Ninsei  was  already  re- 
nowned for  his  skill  in  the  chaster  fashions,  which 
the  best  keramists  of  Kyoto  copied  in  later  times. 
His  pictorial  designs  were  always  remarkably  bold 
and  simple,  but  the  shapes  which  he  devised  for 
incense-boxes  show  much  variety ; such  things  as 
battledores,  helmets,  official  hats  (yeboshi),  bivalves, 
mythical  animals,  ducks,  sparrows,  cranes,  and  so 
forth,  being  copied  with  fidelity.  Referring  to  the 
universality  of  his  genius,  it  is  generally  said  of  him 
that  the  only  things  he  could  not  make  were  celadon 
and  porcelain.  None  of  his  descendants  practised  the 
potter's  art.  When  Japanese  speak,  as  they  some- 
times do,  of  the  second  Ninsei " or  the  third 
Ninsei,"  they  are  in  error.  There  was  but  one  Nin- 
sei. Another  misconception  is  to  suppose  that  a con- 
temporary potter,  by  name  Wanjin,  of  Korean  descent, 
anticipated  Ninsei  in  the  use  of  vitrifiable  enamels. 
Wanjin  only  trod  in  Ninsei's  footsteps,  having  him- 
self no  title  to  be  mentioned  in  the  same  breath  with 
the  great  amateur. 

Near  Seikanji,  where  Ninsei  manufactured  his  first 
pieces,  there  exist  the  ruins  of  a factory  where  Gyogi 
Bosatsu  is  said  to  have  worked.  In  the  same  locality, 
before  Ninsei's  era,  two  factories  had  already  been 

i86 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

opened  at  Shiru-dani  and  Komatsu-dani,  as  mentioned 
above.  The  reader  knows  that  the  names  of  three 
potters,  Otoroku,  Otowaya,  and  Kiushichi,  who 

worked  at  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  and  the  begin- 
ning of  the  seventeenth  century,  were  associated  with 
these  factories.  Their  pieces  are  the  original  faience 
of  Kyoto  ; that  is  to  say,  ware  having  close  pate^ 
tolerably  regular  crackle,  and  greyish  or  yellowish 
glaze.  They  also  employed  ai-e  and  shibu-e  for  dec- 
orative purposes.  Doubtless  because  these  early 

Seikanji  productions  are  the  prototypes  of  the  true 
Kyoto  faience,  they  are  sometimes  called  ko-Kyomizu- 
yakiy  or  old  ware  of  Kyomizu.  The  term  is  not 
strictly  correct,  inasmuch  as  the  Kyomizu  district  had 
not  yet  become  the  keramic  centre  of  Kyot5.  It 
attained  that  distinction  subsequently.  The  names 
Seikanji-yaki  and  Otowa-yaki  are  more  properly 

applied  to  this  old  faience  of  the  Seikanji  locality. 

Ninsei  worked  chiefly  at  the  factories  of  Mizoro, 
Awata,  and  Iwakura.  These  places,  being  of  great 
importance  in  respect  of  Kyoto  wares,  merit  detailed 
notice.  The  Mizoro  and  Awata  factories  were  both 
founded  by  descendants  of  the  first  Kyoto  potter, 
Minamoto  no  Yasuchika,  who  has  been  already  men- 
tioned. From  the  ninth  century  until  the  sixteenth 
there  is  no  record  of  the  history  of  his  family.  De- 
scendants of  Minamoto  no  Yasuchika  (who  lived  dur- 
ing the  second  half  of  the  ninth  century)  were  : — 

1.  Unren-in  Yasunari;  lived  at  Kamo,  in  the  northern 

port  of  Kyoto,  and  subsequently  established  a kiln 
at  Mizoro,  or  Gobosatsu,  where  he  manufactured 
on-miki-dokuri^  or  wine-bottles  for  religious  rites. 
Died  1530. 

2.  Yasubei;  worked  at  Gobosatsu  (Mizoro).  Died  1568. 

187 


JAPAN 

3.  Kumanosuke,  also  called  Tosen-koji;  worked  at 

Gobosatsu.  Died  1585. 

4.  Yasubei  ; retired  early  from  business  and  settled  in 

the  Kyomizu  district,  where  he  manufactured  tea- 
cups for  religious  rites.  The  date  of  his  death  is 
uncertain. 

5.  Yasubei;  worked  at  Gobosatsu.  Died  1608. 

6.  Kumanosuke;  worked  at  Gobosatsu.  Died  1635. 

7.  Bunzo;  was  working  at  Gobosatsu  in  the  time  of 

Nomura  Ninsei.  In  1645  he  moved  to  Awata- 
guchi,  and  there  took  part  in  the  manufacture  of 
the  faience  which,  after  the  improvements  intro- 
duced by  Ninsei,  ultimately  became  so  famous. 
Died  1660. 

8.  Kuzaemon  ; worked  at  Awata.  Died  1683. 

9.  Yasubei ; worked  at  Awata  ; received  the  art  name 

of  Hozan  from  Tankai  Hozan  Risshi,  guardian 
of  Hachidai  Tennosha  on  Awata-yama.  He  sub- 
sequently stamped  this  name  on  his  best  pieces. 
Died  (about)  1720. 

10.  Yasubei ; worked  at  Awata  and  was  chiefly  known  in 

connection  with  his  pupil  Kihyo,  called  also  Kagiya, 
who  was  specially  appointed  to  manufacture  teacups 
for  the  Tokugawa  Shoguns.  Yasubei  died  1752. 

11.  Bunzo;  worked  at  Awata  and  assisted  Kagiya 

Shintaro  (son  of  the  first  Kagiya)  to  manufacture 
faience  for  the  Court  in  Yedo.  Died  1807. 

12.  Kumanosuke;  worked  at  Awata  and  assisted  Kagiya 

Kichibei  to  manufacture  faience  for  the  Court  in 
Yedo.  Died  1812. 

13.  Yasuemon  ; worked  at  Awata.  Died  1817. 

14.  Kumanosuke;  worked  at  Awata.  Died  1819. 

15.  Heibei ; worked  at  Awata.  Died  1824. 

16.  Kumanosuke;  worked  at  Awata,  and  manufactured 

porcelain  in  concert  with  Diraku  Zengoro.  Among 
his  pupils  was  Kihei,  afterwards  called  Sobei,  who 
manufactured  ware  for  the  Court  in  Yedo.  Died 
1841. 

17.  Bunzo;  now  works  at  Awata. 

188 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  above  chronology  attributes 
the  founding  of  the  Awata  factory  to  Bunzo  in  1645. 
Other  accounts  say  that  the  first  Awata  potter  was 
Kuemon,  who  flourished  from  1619  to  1663.  In 
support  of  the  latter  tradition  there  used  to  be  shown 
at  Awata  a little  shrine  dedicated  to  Kuemon^  on  the 
hill  where  he  procured  materials.  Whichever  account 
be  correct,  it  is  certain  that  the  faience  of  Awata  did 
not  assume  a decorative  character  until  the  time  of 
Nomura  Ninsei.  Thenceforth  it  became  the  prin- 
cipal ware  of  Kyoto.  The  representative  Awata-yaki 
may  be  described  as  a faience  having  pate  of  medium 
closeness  and  of  brownish  tint ; semi-translucid  glaze 
of  somewhat  cold,  greyish  colour ; and  a profusion  of 
enamelled  decoration,  in  which  clear  brilliant  green 
and  opaque  blue,  often  verging  on  lilac,  are  the  domi- 
nant colours,  the  whole  being  enriched  with  gold 
and,  more  rarely,  silver.  Nomura  Ninsei  was  fond 
of  using  silver  for  decorative  purposes,  but  as  a rule 
this  material  was  employed  by  the  best  artists  only. 
The  other  colours  applied  at  Awata  were  red,  — full- 
bodied  and  opaque,  — purple,  and  yellow,  the  two  last 
being  rare.  Good  specimens  of  the  ware  present 
features  very  easily  recognised.  Hardness  and  close- 
ness of  patCy  softness  and  sheen  of  glaze,  regularity  of 
crackle,  and  brilliancy  of  enamels,  — these  are  points 
of  which  any  amateur  can  judge.  Diapers  were  the 
decorative  staple.  Sometimes  they  were  used  alone,  dis- 
persed over  the  surface  of  a piece  with  all  the  bizarre 
symmetry  that  the  Japanese  artist  loved.  Sometimes 
they  were  broken  by  medallions  enclosing  floral  de- 
signs, birds,  mythical  animals,  or,  more  rarely,  figures 
of  supernatural  personages.  From  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century  the  colour  of  the  glaze  passed 

189 


JAPAN 

from  cold  grey  to  light  buff ; an  excellent  change,  since 
the  soft,  creamy  richness  of  the  latter  furnished  a 
charming  ground  for  the  brilliant  enamels  applied 
to  it. 

After  Ninsei  the  greatest  name  connected  with  the 
Awata  factory  is  that  of  Ogata  Sansei,  whose  artist 
name  was  Kenzan.  Ogata  was  born  at  Narutaki- 
mura,  in  the  suburbs  of  Kyoto,  in  the  year  1660  ; that 
is  to  say,  just  at  the  time  when  the  methods  intro- 
duced by  Ninsei  had  fairly  won  their  way  to  public 
favour.  He  was  the  second  son  of  Ogata  Soken,  and 
his  younger  brother  was  the  celebrated  painter  Korin. 
Sansei,  who  appears  to  have  been  called  also  Shinsei 
and  Shinsaburo,  was  himself  a painter  of  considerable 
promise,  but  his  proclivities  fortunately  lay  in  the 
direction  of  keramics.  After  he  had  studied  litera- 
ture and  poesy  under  the  well-remembered  Hirosawa 
Nagayoshi,  and  the  mysteries  of  the  Cha-no-Tu  under 
Zuiru  Sosa,  — whom  the  men  of  the  next  generation 
elevated  into  a semi-divinity  under  the  title  of 
Nichiren  Sosa, — he-  spent  a short  time  in  the  prac- 
tice of  his  father’s  favourite  art,  and  his  pictures  are 
said  to  have  given  earnest  of  great  talent.  That  he 
preferred  to  devote  his  brush  to  the  ornamentation  of 
faience  was  partly,  perhaps,  because  the  designs  fur- 
nished for  that  purpose  by  Tanyu  and  Eishin  had 
attracted  so  much  attention,  and  partly  because  his 
brother  Korin,  in  whom  he  must  have  recognised  a 
greater  artist  than  himself,  had  already  a taste  for 
lacquer  decoration.  At  first  he  appears  to  have  ap- 
plied himself  diligently  to  the  study  of  technical 
processes,  taking  for  his  instructors  the  potters  of 
Raku,  Seto,  and  Zeze.  Very  soon,  however,  he  de- 
veloped an  original  style,  of  which  the  chief  charac- 

190 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

teristics  are  great  boldness,  combined  with  a very- 
skilful  disposition  of  tints  both  in  the  execution  of 
designs  and  in  surface  decoration.  Kenzan  is,  in 
fact,  a perfect  representative  of  the  genuine  J^apanese 
school,  which  requires  that  results,  however  elaborate, 
shall  convey  no  idea  of  detailed  effort,  and  enforces 
strict  obedience  to  the  natural  principle  of  limited 
impressions.  A branch  of  plum  blossoms,  a tuft  of 
feathery  reeds  and  bending  grasses,  a family  of  spar- 
rows clustering  amid  the  foliage  of  a bamboo,  or  the 
blue  crest  of  a mountain  peeping  through  a haze  of 
golden  clouds,  — such  things  as  these  can  be  compre- 
hended at  a single  glance,  and  are  therefore  legiti- 
mate subjects  for  representation  in  the  circumscribed 
field  which  the  artist  has  at  his  disposal.  Kenzan 
thoroughly  understood  this.  His  designs  are  often 
exceedingly  artistic  for  all  their  simplicity,  and  the 
landscapes  depicted  on  some  of  his  smaller  pieces 
embody  most  graceful  conceptions.  He  preferred 
shihu-ye  and  ai-ye  — designs  in  black,  russet-brown,  and 
blue  — to  kin-ye  — designs  in  coloured  enamels  and 
gold.  But  in  all  three  varieties  of  decoration  he 
showed  himself  equally  a master.  His  best  pieces 
were  potted  at  Awata,  and  neither  their  pate  nor  their 
glaze  is  distinguishable  from  that  of  the  ordinary 
Awata-yaki.  The  style,  however,  cannot  possibly  be 
mistaken.  It  is  bold  almost  to  roughness.  Even 
when  little  landscapes  are  depicted  — a rare  subject 
with  Kenzan  — there  is  no  attempt  at  delicacy  or 
fineness : a vigorous  sketch  entirely  satisfies  the 
artist.  His  most  frequent  method  was  to  dash  in  a 
floral  scroll,  a flight  of  geese  or  herons  in  outline,  or 
a suggestion  of  flowers  and  trees.  The  colour  used  in 
these  more  archaic  specimens  was  usually  the  dark 

191 


JAPAN 

brown  obtained  from  shihu.  The  clay  was  that  of 
Shigaraki,  which  gave  coarse,  gritty  pate^  inferior  as  a 
potter’s  material,  but  well  adapted  to  rough  outline 
sketches  such  as  those  that  Kenzan  applied  to  these 
wares.  He  marked  his  pieces  with  his  name,  Ken- 
zan.” Even  in  his  manner  of  making  the  mark  he 
was  true  to  his  style,  using  no  stamp,  but  scrawling  the 
ideographs  Ken-zan  in  a large,  bold  hand.  At  a late 
period  of  his  career  he  worked  at  Iriya,  in  Yedo 
(now  Tokyo),  but  the  materials  procurable  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  eastern  capital  were  of  such  in- 
ferior quality  that  even  Kenzan  could  produce  nothing 
satisfactory  with  them.  Urged  rather  by  love  for 
his  craft  than  desire  of  gain,  he  never  attempted  to 
manufacture  large  quantities  of  faience,  so  that  genu- 
ine specimens  of  his  work  are  exceedingly  rare  and 
proportionately  valued.  His  example  did  not  affect 
the  decorative  methods  of  Awata,  his  style  being  too 
essentially  individual  to  be  imitated.  His  son  and 
grandson,  however,  continued  to  manufacture  pieces 
of  the  same  character,  though  inferior  in  verve  and 
originality.  Kenzan  died  in  1743;  his  son,  Kenzan 
the  second  [ni-dai-me  Kenzan)  about  177 
grandson,  Kenzan  the  third  {san-dai-me  Kenzan)  about 
1820.  The  cachet  was  used  by  all  three,  and  it  is 
often  difficult  to  distinguish  their  pieces. 

A predecessor,  and  for  a short  time  contemporary, 
of  Kenzan  (Ogata  Sansei)  was  Seibei,  whose  artist 
name  was  Ebisei.  This  potter  did  not  work  at  Awata. 
He  belongs  to  the  Kyo-mizu  section,  where  he  will 
be  further  noticed.  He  is  mentioned  here  because 
his  principal  pupil,  Eisen,  was  the  instructor  of  two 
men,  Mokubei  and  Dohachi,  whose  names  stand 
high  in  the  Awata  annals. 

192  . 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

The  first  Dohachi,  a retainer  of  the  Kame-yama 
fief  in  Ise,  was  born  in  1740.  His  family  name  was 
Takahashi.  He  established  himself  at  Awata  in 
the  Horeki  era  (1751-1763),  and  having  studied  the 
keramic  art  under  Eisen  of  Kyo-mizu,  began  the 
manufacture  of  pottery.  He  was  an  expert  bamboo- 
carver,  as  well  as  a potter,  and  he  assumed  the  artist 
name  of  Shofutei  Kuchu.  He  died  in  1804,  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  son,  the  second  Dohachi,  to  whose 
skill  the  name  chiefly  owes  its  eminence.  This  artist 
did  not  long  remain  at  Awata.  He  changed  his  resi- 
dence to  Gojo-zaka,  another  part  of  Kyoto,  in  1811, 
and  there  carried  on  the  potter’s  trade  with  great 
success.  He  was  not  less  renowned  for  his  porcelain 
than  for  his  faience,  but  the  latter  only  need  be  no- 
ticed here.  Dohachi  enjoyed  the  patronage  of  many 
aristocrats  in  the  Imperial  city  ; notably  of  Prince 
Ninnaji,  who  conferred  on  him  (1826)  the  artist 
names  of  Hokyo  and  Nin-a.  The  latter  is  the  origin 
of  the  appellation  ‘‘  Ninami  ” which  Dohachi  thence- 
forth adopted,  and  with  which  many  of  his  pieces  are 
marked.  In  1842  the  third  Dohachi  moved  to 
Momoyama,  at  Fushimi,  a suburb  of  Kyoto,  and 
manufactured  faience  distinguished  as  Momoyama-yaku 
He  was  invited  to  Arita  by  the  Prince  of  Hizen  in 
1869,  and  spent  some  time  there,  giving  instruction 
in  the  decorative  art.  It  seems  strange  that  Arita 
should  have  needed  such  assistance,  but  the  Prince’s 
object  was  doubtless  to  introduce  the  spirit  of  the 
Kyoto  art  rather  than  its  technical  methods.  Doha- 
chi of  the  fourth  generation  now  represents  the  family. 
He  is  president  of  the  Kyoto  Pottery  Association,  and 
his  productions  have  been  honoured  by  nine  medals  and 
certificates  at  various  exhibitions  at  home  and  abroad. 

VOL.  VIII. 13  1^3 


JAPAN 

The  decorative  style  introduced  by  the  first  Doha- 
chi  and  carried  to  perfection  by  his  son  was  faithful 
to  the  canons  of  his  time.  At  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century  Maruyama  Okyo,  one  of  the 
greatest  painters  of  Japan,  had  broken  the  fetters  of 
old-fashioned  conventionalism  and  by  his  unaided 
genius  accomplished  a revolution  in  the  laws  of 
painting  in  Kyoto.  Of  the  Shijo  school,  founded  by 
him,  the  chief  characteristics,  as  enumerated  by  the 
late  Dr.  W.  Anderson  in  ‘‘Japanese  Pictorial  Art,” 
are  “ an  easy  but  graceful  outline,  free  from  the  arbi- 
trary mannerisms  and  unmeaning  elegance  of  some  of 
the  works  of  the  older  schools  ; comparative  truth  of 
interpretation  of  form,  especially  in  the  delineation 
of  birds,  associated  with  an  extraordinary  rendering 
of  vitality  and  action ; and,  lastly,  a light  harmonious 
colouring,  suggestive  of  the  prevalent  tones  of  the 
objects  depicted,  and  avoiding  the  purely  decorative 
use  of  gold  and  pigment.  The  motives,”  Dr.  Ander- 
son goes  on  to  say,  “ most  in  favour  with  the  clas- 
sical academics  were  necessarily  excluded  by  the 
principle  of  the  Shijo  school ; but  Chinese  landscapes, 
Chinese  sages,  and  animals  which  the  painter  never 
saw  in  life,  were  profitably  replaced  by  transcripts  of 
the  scenery  and  natural  history  of  Japan.  The  sub- 
jects peculiar  to  the  Popular  school,  the  life  of  the 
streets  and  theatres,  were,  however,  as  carefully  avoided 
by  the  naturalist  as  by  the  classical  artist ; but  where 
the  two  schools  chanced  to  coincide  in  motive,  as  in 
the  drawing  of  Japanese  heroes,  the  advantage  of  re- 
finement always  lay  on  the  side  of  the  pupils  of  Okyo.” 
All  this  applies  accurately  to  the  methods  of  the 
Dohachi  family.  They  chose  their  decorative  motives 
from  nature,  and  applied  them  with  great  refinement 

194 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

and  delicacy.  Their  command  of  technical  processes 
was  thorough,  yet  they  never  allowed  themselves  to 
be  betrayed  into  exuberance  of  brnament.  Birds, 
landscapes,  floral  subjects,  and  other  familiar  objects 
were  faithfully  represented,  excellent  judgtnent  being 
shown  in  adapting  the  motive  to  its  purpose.  Their 
pate  was  always  carefully  manipulated ; their  glazes 
were  lustrous  and  uniform.  A characteristic  and 
favourite  glaze  of  the  second  Dohachi  was  pearl 
white,  tinged  or  clouded  with  pink.  The  idea  of 
this  glaze  was  derived  from  Korean  faience,  but  the 
development  it  received  in  Dbhachi’s  hands  amounted 
to  a new  departure. 

Kiya  Sahei,  or  Mokubei  as  he  is  called  in  art,  was 
born  in  1767,  and  received  instruction  from  Eisen. 
But  as  he  owes  his  reputation  chiefly  to  his  skill  in 
manufacturing  porcelain,  it  will  be  more  convenient 
to  speak  of  him  when  that  part  of  the  subject  is 
considered. 

In  the  account  given  above  of  the  family  of  Yasu- 
chika  incidental  mention  is  made  of  a potter  called 
Kihyo,  or  Kagiya,  who  was  especially  appointed  to 
manufacture  utensils  for  the  palace  of  the  Shogun  in 
Yedo.  The  record  of  the  Kagiya  family  commences 
with  Kagiya  Tokuemon,  who  began  work  at  Awata 
in  1693.  Both  this  man  and  his  son  are  said'to  have 
been  clever  keramists,  but  as  to  the  particular  direction 
in  which  their  skill  lay  the  student  is  left  to  conjec- 
ture. It  was  not  till  the  time  of  Kagiya  Mohei,  the 
third  generation,  that  the  family  acquired  a wide  rep- 
utation. This  artist  succeeded  to  his  father’s  busi- 
ness in  the  era  (1744-1747),  and  in  1756  he 

had  so  distinguished  himself  as  to  be  appointed  potter 
to  the  Tokugawa  Court  in  Yedo.  In  connection 


JAPAN 

with  this  honour  he  received  the  name  of  Kinko-zan, 
which  he  thenceforth  stamped  upon  his  best  pieces, 
and  which  was  similarly  used  by  his  successors.  The 
present  representative  of  the  family  is  Kagiya  Sobei. 
His  manufactures  have  earned  numerous  medals  and 
certificates  at  exhibitions  at  home  and  abroad.  The 
Kagiya  family  carried  the  enamelled  decoration  of 
Kyoto  faience  to  its  highest  point  of  richness  and 
brilliancy.  Prior  to  their  time  the  Awata  glaze  had 
been  of  a somewhat  cold,  hard  character,  but  in  their 
hands  its  colour  changed  from  greyish  white  to  light 
buff,  and  it  assumed  an  aspect  of  great  delicacy  and 
softness.  To  this  warm,  creamy  ground  a wealth 
of  gold,  red,  green,  and  blue  enamels  was  applied, 
generally  in  the  form  of  floral  scrolls,  the  result  being 
indescribably  rich  and  mellow.  The  Kinko-zan  style 
is  essentially  decorative  and  conventional,  as  distin- 
guished from  the  naturalistic  school  affected  by  the 
Dohachi  family,  and  indeed  by  the  majority  of  noted 
Kyoto  artists.  Flower-vases  were  more  largely  pro- 
duced by  Kagiya  Mohei  and  his  successors,  than  by 
other  Kyoto  potters.  In  the  rare  examples  of  these 
now  to  be  found  the  decorative  effect  is  usually  assisted 
by  reticulation  and  by  conceits  of  shape.  As  a gen- 
eral rule,  however,  the  productions  of  the  Awata  pot- 
ters took  the  form  of  cups,  vegetable  bowls  {muko-zuke)^ 
censers,  clove-boilers  [choji-buro^y  water- vessels  [mizu- 
sashi),  and  figures.  The  great  majority  of  the  famous 
Kyoto  keramists  were  clever  modellers.  Their  fa- 
vourite motives  were  the  Seven  Gods  of  Good  Fortune 
(Shichifukujiii),  In  moulding  these  they  often  left 
the  faces,  hands,  and  feet  unglazed,  and  exhausted  all 
the  resources  of  their  decorative  methods  on  the  dra- 
pery. Here  they  evidently  reflected  the  methods  of 

196 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

the  Popular  school  [Ukyo-e  of  painting,  which, 

^ founded  by  the  celebrated  Iwasa  Matahei  just  as  the 
keramics  of  Kyoto  were  receiving  new  inspiration 
from  the  genius  of  Nomura  Ninsei,  reactyed  the  ze- 
nith of  its  fame  during  the  eighteenth  century.  The 
exquisite  colouring  and  rich  elaboration  displayed  by 
the  Ukyo-e  artists  in  depicting  drapery  could  scarcely 
fail  to  influence  the  decorative  motives  of  a contem- 
poraneous school  of  keramists. 

Scarcely  less  familiar  than  the  Kinkbzan  stamp  in 
connection  with  Awata  faience  is  the  mark  Hdzan. 
This,  as  has  been  noted  in  the  genealogical  table  of 
the  Minamoto  no  Yasuchika  family,  was  an  art  name 
given  to  Yasubei  by  Tankai  Hozan  Risshi,  guardian 
of  Hachidai  Tennosha,  at  the  beginning  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century.  The  specialty  of  this  potter  appears 
to  have  been  the  use  of  blue  sous  couverte  in  decorating 
faience ; a method  not  much  practised  owing  to  the 
difficulty  of  obtaining  the  necessary  degree  of  heat  in 
stoving.  Landscapes,  boldly  executed,  and  floral 
scrolls  were  the  usual  motives.  The  effect  of  blue 
thus  employed  under  a glaze  glossy  as  oil  and  softened 
by  a network  of  minute  crackle,  is  highly  artistic. 
About  this  time  imitations  of  Delft  faience  began  to 
be  manufactured  at  Awata  in  small  quantities.  They 
do  not  merit  special  notice  until  the  time  of  Bunzo, 
grandson  of  Yasubei  Hozan,  who  flourished  during 
the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  This  artist 
was  a master  in  the  use  of  engobe.  One  of  his  favour- 
ite methods  was  to  cover  the  surface  of  a piece  with 
rich  blue  wax-like  glaze,  forming  a ground  for  floral 
designs  or  scrolls  in  white,  and  in  many  cases  relieved 
by  medallions  with  designs  in  engobe,  copied  from  the 
Dutch.  He  was  also  the  originator  of  a very  beau- 

197 


JAPAN 

tiful  style  of  decoration,  not  previously  employed,  or, 
if  employed,  not  noticed  until  his  developments 
brought  it  into  vogue.  This,  in  its  commonest 
form,  was  an  arabesque  of  leaves  and  tendrils  dis- 
posed, in  high  or  low  relief,  about  a central  blossom. 
The  flowers  were  white,  and  the  enamel  scroll  was  in 
blue  or  green  engobe,  with  sometimes  an  admixture 
of  yellow.  The  design  of  course  varied,  but  the 
method  was  always  the  same,  — pate  sur  pdte^  — the 
execution  showing  great  technical  ability.  Attractive 
as  this  style  of  decoration  was,  it  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  admitted  to  a permanently  high  place  by 
Japanese  connoisseurs.  It  is  generally  confined  to 
such  utensils  as  flower-pots,  wine-bottles,  clove-boilers, 
and  so  forth,  and  is  rarely  found  on  flower-vases  or 
censers.  Perhaps  for  this  reason,  but  more  probably 
because  its  processes  demanded  exceptional  care  and 
skill,  Bunzo’s  pate  sur  pate  was  not  largely  imitated 
by  his  successors.  At  present  little  attempt  to  repro- 
duce it  is  made  in  Kyoto.  As  a pdte-sur-pdte  deco- 
rator, Tanzan  [vide  infrai)  is  fully  equal  to  any  of  his 
predecessors.  He  works,  however,  entirely  in  low 
relief.  The  high-relief  Warabi-de  (fern-scroll  style), 
as  the  method  of  Bunzo  was  called,  is  now  attempted 
by  Taizan  [vide  infra)  only,  and,  according  to  his 
statement,  the  difficulty  of  temperature  is  nearly  in- 
superable, unless,  indeed,  a special  kiln  is  constructed. 
The  Warabi-de  faience  found  much  favour  in  Kyoto 
during  the  years  that  immediately  succeeded  its  in- 
vention. It  was  to  some  extent  supplanted  by  the 
Tsui-shu-dey  or  carved  red  lacquer  style.  In  this  a 
design  was  traced  on  the  faience  in  the  usual  maoi-ner, 
and  the  remainder  of  the  surface  was  then  covered 
with  red  lacquer,  portions  of  which  were  incised  in 

198 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

diapers.  Sometimes  the  lacquer  was  partially  used 
in  tracing  the  design.  This  fashion  was  a violation 
of  true  art  canons.  It  soon  went  out  of  vogue. 

Another  well-known  cachet  of  Awata  is  ^aizan. 
During  the  Empo  era  (1673—1680)  Tokuro,  a retainer 
of  the  noble  family  of  Sasaki,  came  from  Omi  to 
Kyoto  and  began  to  manufacture  pottery.  He  ap- 
pears to  have  confined  himself  at  first  to  producing 
Raku  ware.  In  1711  he  obtained  permission  to 
establish  a kiln  at  Awata,  and  there  began  to  practise 
the  decorative  methods  for  which  the  place  was 
famous.  His  son,  Yohei,  succeeded  to  the  industry 
in  the  Kybho  era  (1716—1735),  and  assumed  the  busi- 
ness name  of  Obiya,  thenceforth  marking  his  pottery 
“ Taizan”  i^Taiis,  another  pronunciation  of  the  ideo- 
graph obi).  According  to  a tradition  of  Ydhei’s  de- 
scendants, he  was  particularly  successful  in  his  manner 
of  using  sulphate  of  iron  to  produce  a rich  red  pig- 
ment. On  the  whole,  however,  it  can  only  be  said  of 
the  Taizan  family  that  they  carried  the  methods  of 
the  Awata  factories  to  considerable  excellence,  and 
that  they  were  remarkable  for  technical  skill  rather 
than  for  originative  genius.  The  head  of  each  suc- 
ceeding generation  was  called  Yohei.  The  represen- 
tatives of  the  third  and  fourth  generations,  who 
flourished  during  the  second  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  were  eminently  successful  in  producing  rich 
Mazarine  blue  enamel  which  they  sometimes  used  as 
body  glaze,  applying  to  it  decorative  designs  in  gold. 
The  dates  of  the  successive  generations  of  the  Taizan 
family,  and  some  facts  concerning  them,  are  given  in 
the  following  table  : — 

I.  Tokuro;  began  to  manufacture  Raku  faience  about 
1675,  ^ Awata  in  17 ii. 

199 


JAPAN 

2.  Taizan  Yohei ; assumed  the  business  name  of  Obiya 

and  the  mark  ’Taizan''  in  the  era  1716—1735. 

3.  Taizan  Yohei;  distinguished  himself  by  his  Maza- 

rine blue  enamel,  circ.  1755. 

4.  Taizan  Yohei;  manufactured  tea  and  wine  utensils; 

flourished  down  to  1800. 

5.  Taizan  Yohei ; manufactured  not  only  pottery  but 

also  porcelain  — especially  celadon  — between  1801 
and  1820  — and  was  appointed  potter  to  the  Im- 
perial court. 

6.  Taizan  Yohei ; produced  highly  decorated  articles 

of  pottery  and  porcelain  for  Imperial  use  in  the 
era  1830-1843. 

7.  Taizan  Yohei;  flourished  down  to  1853. 

8.  Taizan  Yohei ; flourished  down  to  1870,  and  exported 

considerable  quantities  of  faience. 

9.  Taizan  Yohei ; the  present  representative  of  the 

family  ; a potter  of  merit,  who  does  not,  however, 
preserve  the  canons  of  his  art,  but  manufactures 
largely  with  a special  view  to  foreign  markets. 
Much  of  his  faience  has  found  its  way  to  Europe 
and  America,  where  it  is  highly  appreciated.  The 
fate  is  excellently  manipulated,  the  glaze  soft  and 
lustrous,  the  crackle  fine,  and  the  decoration, 
though  it  frequently  errs  on  the  side  of  gaudiness, 
is  often  redeemed  by  beauty  of  design  and 
delicacy  of  execution.  Taizan  uses  enamels  on 
choice  pieces  only,  preferring  gold  and  pigments 
— especially  red  — which  are  more  easily  prepared 
and  applied.  He  has  revived  the  pdte-sur-pdte 
style  {Warahi-de)  generally  attributed  to  Hdzen, 
but  his  success  is  not  signal.  The  difficulty  of 
temperature  in  the  kiln  appears  to  be  nearly  insu- 
perable. It  is  necessary  that  faience  thus  decorated 
should  be  exposed  to  the  direct  action  of  the  fur- 
nace, while  at  the  same  time  the  slightest  excess 
of  heat  has  the  effect  of  causing  the  enamel  to 
“ boil,”  the  result  being  that  it  emerges  from  the 
kiln  honeycombed  and  lustreless. 


200 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

Among  the  largest  manufacturers  of  modern  Awata 
faience  is  Tanzan  Yoshitaro.  Originally  educated  for 
the  medical  profession,  he  came  to  Kyoto  in  1854, 
and  settling  at  Awata,  devoted  himself  entirely  to  the 
potter’s  art.  He  is  still  alive,  but  the  factory  is  now 
under  the  direction  of  his  son,  Tanzan  Rokuro.  These 
artists  must  unquestionably  be  classed  among  the  most 
skilled  of  Japanese  keramists.  The  pate  of  their 
faience  is  fine,  and  the  glaze  has  a peculiarly  soft, 
creamy  appearance  that  consorts  prettily  with  chaste, 
delicately  executed  design  of  floral  subjects,  foliage, 
birds,  monkeys,  and  so  forth.  They  prefer  neutral 
tints  to  brilliant  colours,' and  instead  of  the  jewel-like 
enamels  of  the  old  Awata  school,  they  generally  use 
russet  or  dark  brown  pigment.  It  is  probable,  how- 
ever, that  the  name  of  Tanzan  will  be  remembered 
chiefly  in  connection  with  pate-sur-pate  decoration. 
The  Tanzan  faience  of  this  class  differs  essentially 
from  the  well-known  W arahi-de  ware  of  Hozan.  In 
the  latter  the  characteristic  feature  is  bold  arabesques 
and  floral  scrolls  in  high  relief ; in  the  former  lace  pat- 
terns, diapers,  and  archaic  designs,  in  low  relief,  exe- 
cuted with  extraordinary  skill  and  minuteness.  Some 
of  Tanzan’s  best  pieces  of  this  class  are  as  delicate  and 
elaborate  as  mediaeval  illuminations.  Their  general 
aspect,  however,  is  subdued,  owing  to  the  prevalence 
of  a dead-leaf  enamel  particularly  affected  at  the  Tan- 
zan pottery.  Another  specialty  of  the  factory  is  its 
mottled  glazes,  resembling  moss-agate  or  tortoise-shell. 
These  generally  play  a subsidiary  part.  Where  com- 
bined with  pdte-sur-pdte  decoration  they  produce  a rich 
and  pleasing  effect.  In  Japan  it  is  said  of  the  Tanzans 
that  they  have  more  or  less  prostituted  their  art  to  for- 
eign taste,  a criticism  that  cannot  be  completely  re- 

201 


JAPAN 

butted.  But  their  pieces  still  retain  many  of  the  best 
characteristics  of  the  Japanese  school  and  are  undoubt- 
edly works  of  high  excellence.  For  several  years  an 
art  association  — the  Kiriu  Kosho  Kaisha  of  Tokyo 
— monopolised  the  whole  of  Tanzan’s  pate-sur-pate 
manufactures  and  exported  them  to  the  United  States, 
where  they  are  probably  at  least  as  well  known  as  in 
Japan,  their  costliness  being  a serious  objection  to 
Japanese  householders.  Since  1884  special  ex- 
port has  ceased,  and  Tanzan  Rokuro  now  exhibits  his 
works  in  a large  warehouse  at  Awata.  Few  places  in 
the  old  Japanese  city  will  better  repay  a visit. 

An  Awata  potter  who  attained  considerable  reputa- 
tion for  his  skill  in  delineating  figure  subjects  was 
Hasegawa  Kumenosuke,  whose  artist  name  was  Gekka, 
or  Bizan.  He  began  life  as  a painter,  having  studied 
under  Okamoto  Toyohiko.  In  1820  he  joined  Tai- 
zan  Yohei,  the  sixth  representative  of  the  Taizan 
family,  and  worked  at  Awata  until  his  death  in  1838. 
Few  of  his  productions  survive,  and  it  may  be  said 
that  his  methods  were  popularised  by  his  adopted  son 
and  successor,  Yozaemon,  known  in  art  as  the  Second 
Bizan.  This  expert  made  a special  study  of  official 
costumes  and  of  the  rich  dresses  worn  by  the  nobles 
in  the  posture-plays  called  No.  He  decorated  his 
wares  with  figures  thus  apparelled.  In  technical  exe- 
cution few  potters  of  Awata  excelled  him.  The  pate 
of  his  faience  was  fine  and  hard,  the  glaze  remarkably 
lustrous,  the  crackle  uniform,  and  the  enamels  used  in 
the  decoration  were  of  the  purest  quality.  His  mas- 
tery of  technical  processes  did  not,  however,  betray 
him  into  any  excesses : his  pieces  generally  show 

sparse  decoration.  He  died  in  1862,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son,  the  third  Bizan,  who  extended  the 

202 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

scope  of  the  factory  and  manufactured  chiefly  for  for- 
eign markets.  The  family  is  now  represented  by 
Bizan  of  the  fourth  generation,  who  assun^ed  the  di- 
rection of  the  factory  on  his  father’s  death  in  the 
spring  of  1887. 

Of  other  workers  at  Awata  it  will  suffice  to  mention, 
the  names  of  Mimura  Genjiro  and  Namura  Kyujiro. 
The  former  is  the  son  of  Mimura  Gembei,  who  was 
a pupil  of  Hozan  Bunzo  about  the  year  1817.  The 
latter’s  father,  Mimura  Umekichi,  was  also  a pupil  of 
Bunzo.  Both  are  skilled  potters,  but  their  work  pre- 
sents no  original  features.' 

The  following  analysis  of  the  clays  used  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  Awata  faience  was  made  by  Professor  R. 
W.  Atkinson,  formerly  of  the  Tokyo  University,  and 
published  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Asiatic  Society 
of  Japan  : — 


Kyoto 

Clay 

Omi  Clay 
No.  I 

Omi  Clay 
No.  z 

Glazing  Clay 

FROM 

Matsumoto 

Moisture 

1.58 

4.13 

9. 18 

10.28 

Combined  water 

5.02 

7-55 

9.18 

— 

Silica 

71.40 

52.13 

56.03 

50-5+ 

Alumina 

19.42 

27.98 

30.  82 

15.14 

Ferric  oxide 

.38 

1.85 

.82 

.86 

Lime 

.38 

.90 

.84 

10. 1 8 

Magnesia 

.20 

.42 

.40 

.78 

Potash 

I. 00 

— 

.64 

— 

Soda 

91 

3-09 

1-55 

— 

Carbonic  acid  .... 

— 

— 

— 

5.61 

An  analysis  of  Awata  faience  masses  was  subsequently  made 
by  M.  Korschelt,  with  the  following  results : — 


AWATA 

FAIENCE 

MASSES 

Silica. 

Alumina. 

Iron 

Oxide. 

Lime,  Pot- 
ash, ETC. 

Water. 

Specimen  i 

. . 61.89 

30-36 

0.  22 

5.27 

I.5I 

Specimen  2 

. . 61.23 

29-37 

1.30 

4.68 

3-05 

203 

JAPAN 

Of  these  two  specimens  the  first  was  prepared  by  a potter 
called  Matso,  by  mixing,  in  the  proportion  of  lo  to  3,  clay 
called  Shiroye-tsuchi  and  sand,  both  obtained  from  Takayama, 
in  Yamashiro  province.  The  mixture  when  pulverised  and 
washed  formed  the  faience-mass.  Tht  pate  of  the  ware  made 
from  these  materials  was  hard  and  of  a yellowish  colour. 
The  second  specimen  was  prepared  by  the  well-known  potter 
Tanzan,  by  mixing,  in  unascertained  proportions,  clays  ob- 
tained from  Yamashima  and  Hareyama  in  the  environs  of 
Kyoto.  The  faience  thus  produced  did  not  differ  appre- 
ciably from  that  manufactured  from  the  former  mass. 

It  has  been  usual  to  distinguish  between  the  pro- 
ductions of  the  Iwakura  and  the  Awata  factories,  as 
though  they  invariably  presented  differences  easily 
recognised.  Such  is  not  the  case,  however,  for  speci- 
mens of  the  one  are  sometimes  absolutely  indis- 
tinguishable from  specimens  of  the  other.  Iwakura 
is  a suburb  of  Kyoto.  Nothing  is  known  of  the 
pottery  produced  there  prior  to  the  time  of  Nomura 
Ninsei.  His  works  first  brought  the  place  into  notice. 
Specimens  of  faience  said  to  have  been  manufactured 
by  him  at  Iwakura  are  still  preserved,  and  it  is  cer- 
tain that  from  his  time  the  Iwakura-yaki  began  to  be 
one  of  the  choicest  wares  of  Kyoto.  In  those  early 
days  it  could  be  distinguished  from  its  rival,  the  Awa- 
ta-yaki^  without  much  difficulty.  The  pate  of  the 
former  was  finer  in  grain  and  lighter  in  colour  than 
the  pate  of  the  latter  ; the  crackle  was  closer,  and  the 
body-colour  mellower.  These  features  became' even 
more  marked  at  a later  period.  Placing  a specimen 
of  Iwakura  faience  manufactured  at  the  beginning  of 
the  seventeenth  century  side  by  side  with  a specimen 
of  contemporaneous  Awata  ware,  the  glaze  of  the 
former  would  appear  to  be  a light  buff  colour  as 
compared  with  the  greyish  white  of  the  latter ; the 

204 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

crackle  of  the  one  would  seem  scarcely  perceptible  in 
comparison  with  the  crackle  of  the  other,  and  the 
decoration  of  the  Iwakura  ware  would  be  found  ap- 
preciably chaster  and  less  brilliant  than  that  of  the 
Awata.  But  from  about  the  middle  of  the  same 
century  the  Awata  potters  changed  their  materials  or 
modified  their  methods  to  such  an  extent  that  these 
differences  ceased  to  be  constant  and  became  occa- 
sional. Many  pieces  bearing  the  cachet  of  Kinkozan, 
and  undoubtedly  potted  at  Awata,  present  all  the 
features  usually  regarded  as  characteristic  of  the  Iwa- 
kura-yaki.  At  present  the  'Awata  potters  seem  to  have 
entirely  abandoned  whatever  technical  methods  were 
formerly  peculiar  to  their  factory,  and  to  have  adopted 
the  Iwakura  fashions  with  strict  fidelity.  The  ama- 
teur will  easily  understand,  therefore,  that  in  the 
absence  of  marks  it  may  often  be  unsafe,  as  in  such 
cases  it  is  always  unnecessary,  to  insist  upon  either  of 
the  terms  Awata-yaki  or  Iwakura-yaki, 

There  appears  to  be  no  hope  of  obtaining  any 
accurate  information  with  respect  to  the  Iwakura 
factory.  It  owed  its  origin  to  the  fact  that  several 
potters  who  had  carried  on  their  trade  in  a district  of 
Kyoto  called  Oshikoji,  were  induced  to  remove  to  a 
less  populous  region  owing  to  the  remonstrances  of 
their  fellow  citizens.  Pottery  kilns  had  often  been 
the  cause  of  conflagrations  in  Japan,  and  it  is  easily 
conceivable  that  when  the  keramic  art  began  to  be 
largely  pursued  in  Kyoto,  a feeling  of  insecurity  was 
engendered  among  persons  living  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  factories.  Of  the  names  of  the  artisans  who 
under  these  circumstances  migrated  to  the  Iwakura 
suburb,  no  record  is  preserved.  It  is  known  only  that 
they  chose  the  place  because  of  the  accessibility  of 

205 


JAPAN 

Dainichi-yama,  where  earth  of  good  quality  was  pro- 
curable. This  event  is  referred  approximately  to  the 
year  1660.  Very  soon  afterwards  the  faience  pro- 
duced at  the  new  factories  became  popular,  and  the 
cachet  “ Iwakura  ’’  [vide  Marks  and  Seals)  attained  a 
considerable  reputation.  As  for  the  ware,  however, 
its  only  points  of  difference  from  the  Awata-yaki  were 
that  the  glaze  was  softer,  more  lustrous,  and  of 
warmer  tone,  the  crackle  finer,  and  the  decoration 
generally  chaster  and  less  brilliant.  At  a later  period 
— about  1 760  — a new  source  of  confusion  was  created 
by  the  use  of  the  Iwakura  mark  at  Awata.  This  prac- 
tice was  commenced  by  Kichibei,  son  of  a bric-a-brac 
dealer  called  Jogi-ya.  Having  been  sent  by  his  father 
to  study  the  potter’s  art  at  Awata,  Kichibei  desired 
to  employ  some  cachet  that  would  bring  his  produc- 
tions into  speedy  note.  He  accordingly  adopted  the 
Iwakura  mark,  with  the  addition  of  the  ideograph 
yama  or  san  (mountain).  Thus  it  is  known  that  speci- 
mens marked  ‘‘  Iwakura-zan  ” were  really  produced  at 
Awata,  and  that  they  cannot  be  older  than  1760. 
Kichibei’s  descendants  continued  working  at  Awata 
and  using  the  same  cachet  until  1882,  when  the 
family  became  extinct.  As  for  the  Iwakura  factories, 
they  had  long  been  closed,  and  their  owners  had  re- 
turned to  the  city,  settling  either  at  Kyo-mizu,  at 
Awata,  or  at  Gojo. 

There  are  not  wanting  connoisseurs  who  with 
some  show  of  reason  place  the  faience  of  Iwakura 
and  the  finer  specimens  of  the  Awata-yaki  in  the  same 
rank  with  the  ware  of  Satsuma.  But  even  while  ad- 
mitting that  the  technical  character  of  the  former  is 
not  inferior  to  that  of  the  latter,  the  conviction  is 
inevitable  that  the  Kyoto  pottery,  as  a rule,  lacks  solid- 

206 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

ity.  Its  best  representatives,  for  all  their  fine  pate, 
their  extraordinary  regular  crackle,  and  the  warm  rich- 
ness of  their  buff-coloured  body,  inevitably  present,  in 
greater  or  less  degree,  a comparatively  fragile  aspect. 
They  vie  with  the  Satsuma  ware  in  delicacy  of  tone 
and  richness  of  decoration,  but  stand  to  it,  after  all,  in 
much  the  same  relation  as  that  in  which  faience  stands 
to  ivory. 

Large  quantities  of  Iwakura-yaki  and  Awata-yaki 
have  been  fraudulently  placed  upon  Western  markets 
as  genuine  Satsuma-yaki.  A little  experience  should 
obviate  any  danger  of  confounding  the  two.  The 
ware  of  Kyoto,  being  much  less  dense  than  that  of 
Satsuma,  is  appreciably  lighter,  and  its  glaze  has  a 
more  marked  tinge  of  yellow.  Specimens  of  Satsuma 
faience  which,  from  the  yellowish  colour  of  their  glaze, 
might  be  mistaken  for  Kyoto  productions,  will  be 
found  to  possess  the  characteristics  of  stone-ware 
rather  than  of  pottery.  Yet  in  spite  of  these  well- 
marked  differences,  it  is  probable  that  much  of  the 
so-called  “ Satsuma  ware’’  of  Western  collections  was 
in  reality  manufactured  in  Kyoto. 

Another  factory  that  attained  some  prominence  after 
Ninsei’s  time  is  that  of  Gobosatsu,  or  Mizoro.  Con- 
sulting the  record  of  the  family  of  Minamoto  no  Ya- 
suchika,  given  above,  it  will  be  seen  that  from  the 
early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  that  is  to  say,  from 
a period  antecedent  to  Ninsei’s  time  by  more  than  a 
hundred  years,  potteries  existed  at  Mizoro.  Their 
products,  however,  were  limited  to  unglazed  utensils 
such  as  wine-bottles,  cups,  plates,  and  bowls  for  use  in 
religious  rites.  There  was  always  a demand  for  un- 
glazed pottery  in  Kyoto.  In  the  Imperial  Palace 
vessels  of  this  kind  were  used  in  great  numbers,  cus- 

207 


JAPAN 

tom  requiring  that  they  should  be  broken  or  given 
away  after  having  once  served  their  purpose.  So,  too, 
in  the  mansions  of  noblemen  or  gentlemen  it  was  the 
habit,  on  all  occasions  of  ceremony,  to  drink  wine  out 
of  cups  of  either  lacquer  or  unglazed  pottery.  For 
the  household  worship  of  ancestors,  again,  and  on  oc- 
casions of  a sacred  character,  vessels  of  a similar  nature 
were  needed.  The  Mizoro  potters,  therefore,  were 
not  without  liberal  patronage.  The  materials  procur- 
able near  the  site  of  their  workshops  were  credited 
with  excellent  qualities,  and  Ninsei’s  recourse  to  the 
place  shows  that  in  his  day  it  enjoyed  a certain  repu- 
tation. Nevertheless  the  Mizoro-yaki  does  not  com- 
pare favourably  with  the  wares  of  Awata  and  Iwakura. 
Its  pate  is  coarser,  its  crackle  larger  and  less  uniform, 
and  the  glaze  not  only  is  more  uneven,  but  also  in  its 
thicker  parts  sometimes  assumes  a milky,  viscous  ap- 
pearance which,  though  appreciated  by  many  connois- 
seurs, suggests  the  idea  of  crude  technique.  The  word 
‘‘  Mizoro  ” signifies  ‘‘  turbid  lake,’’  and  the  same 
name  is  said  to  have  been  applied  to  the  ware  because 
the  materials  for  its  manufacture  were  taken  from 
the  bed  of  the  Mizoro  pond.  When,  under  Ninsei’s 
direction,  the  faience  assumed  a decorative  character, 
simple  fashions  were  at  first  preferred.  The  designs, 
which  generally  consisted  of  miniature  pines  or  tufts 
of  broad-bladed  grass,  were  executed  in  black,  choco- 
late brown,  or  dark  blue.  Subsequently,  however, 
pieces  were  ornamented  in  the  reserve  style,  mon- 
ochrome enamel  (always  grass-green)  being  applied  to 
the  whole  surface  with  exception  of  the  parts  that 
carry  the  pictorial  designs.  Specimens  also  exist 
which  cannot  be  distinguished  from  Awata-yaki  except 
by  their  mark.  Speaking  generally,  delicacy  of  execu- 

208 


4 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

tion  does  not  appear  to  have  been  at  any  time  a prin- 
cipal object  with  the  Mizoro  potters.  They  preferred 
bold,  strong  effects,  and  these  were  unquestionably  bet- 
ter suited  to  the  nature  of  the  materials  which  they 
employed.  There  are  no  records  to  show  what  pot- 
ters worked  at  Mizoro  after  Ninsei’s  time,  and  tradi- 
tion is  silent  on  the  subject.  All  trace  of  the  factories 
has  disappeared,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  locality 
retain  no  memory  of  the  days  when  the  keramic  in- 
dustry was  practised  there.  Doubtless,  as  in  the  case 
of  Iwakura,  the  artisans  ultimately  moved  into  Kyoto, 
finding  that  the  accessibility  of  a part  of  their 
materials  did  not  compensate  for  the  inaccessibility 
of  their  market.  The  Mizoro  clay  is  not  used  at 
all  now. 

Wares  of  Kyoto  other  than  those  produced  at  Awata, 
Iwakura,  or  Mizoro,  are  included  in  the  general  term 
Kyomizu-yaki,  They  are  manufactured  in  those  dis- 
tricts of  the  Western  capital  known  as  Kyomizu-zaka 
and  Gojd-zaka.  The  history  of  this  part  of  the  sub- 
ject is  a record  of  individuals.  In  former  times  there 
was  nothing  that  could  properly  be  called  a factory  in 
the  streets  above  mentioned.  They  were  simply  the 
sites  of  a number  of  potters’  dwellings  where  domestic 
industries  were  conducted  chiefly  on  a small  scale. 

The  first  recorded  potter  of  Kyomizu  faience  is 
Seibei  Yahyo,  who  established  himself  at  Gojo-zaka 
during  the  Genroku  era  (1688—1703).  According  to 
some  authorities,  this  man  was  a grandson  of  Nomura 
Ninsei,  but  the  evidence  in  support  of  such  a theory 
cannot  be  accepted.  Seibei  certainly  copied  Ninsei’s 
methods,  but  his  connection  with  the  great  artist  ends 
there.  In  the  T emmet  era  (1781-1788)  the  factory 
was  moved  to  the  neighbouring  district  of  Kyomizu^ 

VOL.  VIII. 14  209 


JAPAN 

where  it  still  exists  under  the  direction  of  Seibei’s  de- 
scendant, Nakamura  Masagoro.  When  Seibei  settled 
at  Gojo-zaka,  he  called  his  factory  ‘‘  Ebiya,'’  and  by 
combining  this  with  his  own  name  there  results 
‘‘  Ebisei,’’  the  appellation  by  which  he  is  generally 
known.  Ebisei  was  the  first  to  manufacture  utensils 
for  the  Cha-no-Tu  at  Gojo-zaka.  He  is  also  said  to 
have  carried  to  a point  of  considerable  excellence  a 
style  of  decoration  inaugurated  by  Ninsei  and  subse- 
quently employed  at  times  by  the  Kyomizu  potters, 
namely,  the  application  of  vitrifiable  enamels  to  the 
surface  of  unglazed  pottery. 

Among  Ebisei’s  pupils  were  two  potters  of  consider- 
able renown,  Eisen  and  Rokubei.  Eisen  was  not  a 
keramist  by  profession.  He  appears  to  have  taken  up 
the  art  as  a pastime.  He  is  especially  remarkable  as 
the  first  manufacturer  of  porcelain  in  Kyoto.  The 
circumstances  under  which  this  branch  of  keramics 
began  to  be  pursued  in  the  Imperial  city  are  not  re- 
corded. Tradition  says  that  Eisen’s  immediate  pur- 
pose in  travelling  beyond  the  groove  followed  by  his 
predecessors  was  the  production  of  celadoriy  a ware 
which  was  yearly  becoming  more  and  more  valuable 
in  proportion  as  each  fresh  importation  from  the 
Middle  Kingdom  showed  that  the  hands  of  the  Chinese 
themselves  had  lost  much  of  their  old  cunning.  Eisen 
was  not  particularly  successful  in  his  celadons^  but  by 
degrees  he  developed  great  skill  in  producing  enamelled 
porcelain  after  the  style  of  the  later  Ming  potters ; 
that  is  to  say,  white  heavy  ware  with  somewhat  rudely 
executed  designs  in  green,  red,  and  gold.  Imitation 
was  his  forte.  He  evidently  thought  that  the  summit 
of  success  was  to  copy  Chinese  pieces  with  unerring 
fidelity ; a not  unnatural  conception,  seeing  that  Chi- 

210 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

nese  porcelain  was  the  highest  keramic  achievement 
in  the  eye  of  Japanese  connoisseurs  of  Eisen's  time. 
The  exact  date  of  Eisen's  first  porcelain  manufacture 
cannot  be  fixed,  but  there  can  be  little  error  in  plac- 
ing it  about  the  year  1760.  Eisen  stamped  his  name 
on  some  of  his  pieces,  and  wrote  it  on  others  with  red 
enamel.  Ebisei  used  the  Kyomizu  mark  only. 

Rokubei,  another  distinguished  pupil  of  Ebisei,  was 
the  son  of  a farmer.  Koto  Rokuzaemon,  of  the  prov- 
ince of  Setsu.  He  was  called  Kuritaro  in  his  youth, 
and  subsequently  Gusai.  In  the  Kan-en  era  (1748— 
1750)  he  became  Ebisei’s  pupil,  and  in  1764  he 
began  to  manufacture  in  his  own  account  at  Gojo- 
zaka.  He  received  his  art  name,  ‘‘  Rokubei,”  from 
Prince  Myohoin,  who,  having  invited  Gusai  to  his 
mansion  and  caused  him  to  manufacture  some  cups 
of  black  Raku  faience,  conferred  on  him  the  stamp 
Rokumei-in,  A priest,  Keishu,  of  the  celebrated  mon- 
astery of  Tenriu-ji,  wrote  for  Rokubei  the  ideograph 
Sei”  within  a hexagon,  and  this  also  he  used  as  a 
seal  [Sei  is  the  alternative  pronunciation  of  Kyo,  and 
is  thus  an  abbreviation  of  ‘‘Kyomizu”).  Rokubei 
further  employed  the  full  cachet  “ Kyomizu^'*  which  he 
obtained  from  his  teacher  Ebisei.  He  died  in  1799 
at  the  age  of  sixty-two.  His  forte  lay  in  the  direction 
of  finely  decorated  faience.  He  excelled  not  only  in 
the  preparation  and  application  of  vitrifiable  enamels, 
but  also  and  principally  in  the  refined  character  of  his 
designs.  Maruyama  Okyo,  the  greatest  master  of  the 
Realistic  school  of  pictorial  art,  was  then  (1778)  at 
the  zenith  of  his  fame.  All  the  young  painters  of 
Kyoto  flocked  to  his  atelier  at  Shijo,  and  his  pictures 
were  a theme  of  every-day  talk  in  art  circles.  Roku- 
bei was  among  Okyo’s  friends  and  admirers.  He  was 


JAPAN 

on  equally  good  terms  with  the  younger  and  scarcely 
less  remarkable  painter  Gekkei  (or  Goshun),  and  he 
not  only  copied  the  motives  of  these  masters,  but  some- 
times persuaded  them  to  decorate  his  faience  with 
their  own  hands.  It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that 
the  artistic  character  of  his  ware  brings  him  into  the 
same  class  as  his  great  successor  of  Awata,  the  second 
Dohachi.  Among  the  productions  of  both  potters, 
especially  Rokubei,  there  are  occasionally  found  speci- 
mens of  faience  decorated  with  charmingly  conceived 
and  skilfully  executed  landscapes  in  blue  sous  couverte. 
These  beautiful  examples  of  keramic  art,  with  their 
glossy,  closely  crackled  glaze  and  highly  artistic 
designs,  may  be  ascribed  to  the  influence  of  the 
Shijo  school  of  painting. 

Rokubei’s  son,  Seisai,  succeeded  him,  but  being 
very  young  at  the  time  of  his  father’s  death,  he  did 
not  open  a factory  until  the  year  i8i  i.  Throughout 
the  greater  part  of  his  life  he  pursued  the  methods  of 
his  father,  confining  himself  to  the  manufacture  of 
faience.  From  the  first  the  potters  of  Gojo  and  Kyo- 
mizu  had  devoted  much  attention  to  the  preparation 
of  coloured,  semi-translucid  glazes;  as  green,  golden 
brown,  black,  purple,  and  iron  red.  These  were 
sometimes  used  as  monochromes  to  cover  the  whole 
surface  of  a piece ; sometimes  they  enclosed  medal- 
lions with  floral  designs,  and  sometimes  they  formed 
the  ground  for  reserved  designs  in  gold  and  other 
colours.  In  such  fashions  of  decoration  both  Roku- 
bei Gusai  and  Rokubei  Seisai  showed  great  proficiency. 
The  latter,  in  his  old  age,  turned  his  attention  to  the 
manufacture  of  blue-and-white  porcelain,  and  pro- 
duced many  specimens  of  merit.  It  has  to  be  noted, 
however,  that  makers  of  this  class  of  ware  in  Kyoto 

212 


WARES 


OF  KYOTO 


never  showed  originality  consistent  with  their  achieve- 
ments in  faience.  Their  designs  were  copied,  for  the 
most  part,  from  Chinese  models ; their  blue  was  of 
inferior  quality,  and  they  confined  themselves  chiefly 
to  the  production  of  insignificant  pieces  for  domestic 
use.  Rokubei  of  the  second  generation  used  the  same 
stamp  as  his  father,  with  the  addition,  however,  of  a 
second  perimeter  to  the  hexagon.  He  died  in  i860, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-one,  having  retired  from  busi- 
ness in  favour  of  his  son,  Shoun,  twenty-two  years 
previously  (1838).  Shoun,  generally  spoken  of  as 
Rokubei  of  the  third  generation,  was  a skilful  potter. 
A well-known  piece  of  his  is  a large  pillar-lamp  (^toro) 
of  blue-and-white  porcelain,  which  was  placed  in  the 
grounds  of  the  Imperial  Palace  in  1853,  stands 
there  still.  Lamps  of  this  kind,  but  on  a smaller  scale, 
had  often  been  made  in  Hizen.  After  Shoun’s  time 
several  of  them  were  produced  in  KyotS.  Shoun  used 
the  same  mark  as  his  grandfather,  Seisai,  but  generally 
substituted  the  cursive  style  of  writing  for  the  square. 
He  died  in  1883,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Shorin, 
the  present  representative  of  the  family,  who  manu- 
factures both  pottery  and  porcelain,  decorating  the 
latter  with  blue  under  the  glaze  as  well  as  with  vitri- 
fiable  enamels.  Shorin’s  marks  are  shown  in  the  list 
of  Marks  and  Seals.  The  ideographs  of  his  stamp 
were  written  by  the  Abbot  Aoguso,  as  were  those  of 
his  father's  by  the  Abbot  Taigo,  both  of  the  monas- 
tery of  Daitoku. 

It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  Eisen  was  the 
first  manufacturer  of  porcelain  proper  in  Kyoto,  and 
that  he  began  to  pursue  this  branch  of  keramics  about 
the  year  1765.  Among  his  pupils  the  most  distin- 
guished were  Dohachi  and  Mokubei,  to  both  of 

213 


JAPAN 

whom  allusion  has  been  made  in  the  section  devoted 
to  Awata  pottery.  The  story  of  Mokubei  is  referred 
to  here  because  of  his  important  connection  with  the 
records  of  Kyoto  porcelain.  His  skill  appears  to  have 
been  early  recognised.  While  he  was  still  young,  the 
people  of  Mita,  in  the  province  of  Setsu,  sent  to  Kyoto 
delegates  seeking  the  assistance  of  an  expert  to  super- 
intend the  establishment  of  a factory.  Mokubei  de- 
sired to  go,  but  Eisen  refused  to  allow  him,  asserting 
that  the  assistance  of  such  an  artist  would  place  the  Mita 
ware  above  that  of  Kyoto.  Another  of  Eisen’s  pupils, 
by  name  Kamesuke,  was  therefore  sent.  Tradition 
says  that  Mokubei  set  himself  originally  to  copy  the 
ivory-white  porcelain  of  China  [Ming  Chien-yad),  In 
this  line  he  was  not  successful.  His  fame  was  origi- 
nally established  by  his  imitations  of  an  imported  fai- 
ence known  as  Kochi-yakiy  or  ware  of  Cochin  China. 
There  had  been  tolerably  intimate  intercourse  between 
Japan  and  Cochin  China  for  several  centuries.  When 
the  soldier  of  fortune,  Yamada  Nagamasa,  made  his 
way  to  Siam,  two  hundred  years  before  Mokubei’s 
era,  he  found  so  many  of  his  countrymen  already 
settled  there  that  he  was  able  to  raise  a Japanese 
corps  which  afterwards  became  a terror  to  Siam’s 
enemies.  In  the  exchange  of  productions  that  took 
place  between  Japan  and  these  distant  regions,  a ware 
falsely  attributed  to  the  factories  of  Cochin  China  had 
come  into  the  hands  of  the  Japanese  dilettanti,  im- 
mediately attracting  their  admiration  by  its  rarity  and 
the  beauty  of  its  colours.  It  was  hard  faience,  inferior 
in  the  preparation  of  its  pate  to  the  pottery  of  Satsuma 
or  Kyoto,  but  covered  with  glazes,  purple,  yellow, 
green,  and  metallic  bronze-red,  of  remarkable  lustre 
and  brilliancy.  Small  pieces  only  of  this  Kochi-yaki 

214 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

(Kochi  is  the  Japanese  name  for  Cochin  China)  were 
procurable.  They  were  chiefly  in  the  form  of  little 
quaintly-shaped  boxes,  and  these  had  become  the 
orthodox  incense-holders  of  the  Chajin,  It  was  by 
his  dexterous  imitations  of  this  much  esteemed  faience 
that  Mokubei  first  attracted  public  attention.  From 
his  time  it  became  possible  to  be  perplexed  in  choosing 
between  an  original  specimen  of  so-called  Kochi-yaki 
and  a copy  by  some  Ky5to  artist.  He  produced  also 
excellent  pieces  of  celadon^  and  in  Japanese  collections 
there  are  preserved  a few  specimens  of  his  enamelled 
porcelain  which  show  elaborate  and  minute  processes. 
As  an  imitator  he  was  no  less  successful.  He  could 
reproduce,  with  perfect  fidelity,  early  specimens  of 
Chinese  enamelled  and  blue-and-white  porcelains, 
copying  every  blemish  and  imperfection  as  accurately 
as  each  admirable  feature.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
had  he  depended  m.ore  on  his  original  genius  and  less 
on  his  technical  skill,  he  would  have  left  many  re- 
markable examples  of  the  Kyoto  keramic  art.  His 
imitative  ability  sufficed,  however,  to  procure  him 
among  his  own  countrymen  the  title  of  the  most 
expert  potter  of  modern  times.  His  name  is  also  as- 
sociated with  the  first  employment  of  moulds  in  the 
manufacture  of  porcelain.  The  idea  of  this  process 
was  derived  from  a study  of  Chinese  wares.  The 
moulds  were  in  two  pieces.  They  were  applied  ex- 
ternally, and  after  the  vase  had  received  the  desired 
form  by  pressure  from  within,  its  inner  surface  was 
finished  off  upon  the  wheel.  Porcelain  and  pottery 
with  designs  in  relief  thenceforth  occupied  an  impor- 
tant place  among  the  productions  of  the  Kyoto  work- 
shops. At  present  specimens  of  this  nature  are  often 
disfigured  by  evidences  of  the  haste  and  negligence 

215 


JAPAN 

common  to  the  modern  school,  but  some  well-exe- 
cuted examples  may  be  found.  Mokubei  generally 
marked  such  of  his  pieces  as  were  not  intended  to  be 
exact  imitations  of  foreign  models.  His  cachet  will 
be  found  in  the  Plates  of  Marks.  Mokubei  was  born 
in  1767  and  died  in  1833,  leave  any 

male  progeny,  but  his  daughter,  Rai,  attained  con- 
siderable celebrity  as  a manufacturer  of  archaic  pottery, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century.  It  may  be 
added  that  collectors  are  often  imposed  upon  by  elabo- 
rately decorated  specimens — generally  bowls  — which 
curio-dealers  confidently  ascribe  to  Mokubei,  but 
which  are,  in  truth,  clever  examples  of  modern 
manufacture. 

A celebrated  potter  of  Gojo-zaka  was  Ogata  Kichi- 
saburo,  whose  artist  name  was  Shuhei.  He  flourished 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and 
was  therefore  a contemporary  of  Mokubei.  It  has 
been  asserted  that  to  Shuhei  belongs  the  credit  of 
first  applying  to  Kyoto  porcelain  a species  of  decora- 
tion the  origin  of  which  is  otherwise  attributed  to 
the  Chinese  potters  of  the  Tung-lo  era  (1403-1424). 
There  is  no  evidence  of  this  except  the  fact  that 
Shuhei  affected  this  style  of  decoration  more  than  any 
other.  The  outer  surface  of  the  piece  was  completely 
covered  with  red  glaze,  and  to  this,  as  a ground, 
designs  in  gold,  or,  more  rarely,  coloured  enamels, 
were  applied.  Shuhei’s  red  was  of  somewhat  dark, 
impure  character,  not  by  any  means  comparable  with 
the  beautiful  coral  colour  produced  by  his  immediate 
successor,  Eiraku  Zengoro,  who  will  be  presently 
spoken  of  But  in  the  employment  of  coloured 
enamels  he  yields  the  palm  to  no  keramist  of  Kyoto. 
In  this  branch  of  the  art  he  stands  upon  the  highest 

2i6 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

plane  of  excellence.  He  was  fond  of  figure  subjects 
— the  Shichi-fuku-jin,  the  Ju-go  Doji,  the  sixteen 
’Arbats,  the  Rishis,  the  Karako  (Chinese  children  at 
play),  and  so  forth  — and  he  executed  his  designs 
with  the  skill  and  precision  of  delicate  miniatures. 
These  are  essentially  the  “jewelled”  wares  of  Japan. 
Nothing  more  brilliant  is  to  be  found  among  the  pro- 
ductions of  the  country.  Shuhef s pieces  are  porce- 
lain, for  the  most  part,  but  he  manufactured  some 
fine  specimens  of  faience  also.  He  was  succeeded  by 
his  son,  of  the  same  name,  a good  artist,  but  decidedly 
inferior  to  his  father.  There  is  no\epresentative  of 
the  family  at  present  living,  but  the  mark  “ Shuhei  ” 
is  sometimes  used  by  a brother  of  Dohachi,  the  well- 
known  potter  of  Gojo-zaka. 

There  flourished  contemporaneously  with  Shuhei 
an  excellent  keramist,  Otowaya  Sozaemon,  generally 
known  as  Kentei  but  sometimes  called  Tosen,  He 
lived  at  Gojo-zaka,  near  the  bank  of  the  river  Otawa, 
and  his  name  became  known  to  the  public  in  the 
Kansei  era  (1782-1 809).  Kentei  did  not  manufacture 
porcelain.  His  specialty  was  unglazed  pottery  with 
cream-coloured  or  light  grey  pate  of  very  fine  pipe- 
clay. To  this  were  applied  delicately  traced  pictorial 
designs  — sometimes  in  gold  alone,  sometimes  in 
coloured  enamels  — supplemented  usually  by  stanzas 
of  poetry  or  classical  quotations.  A peculiarity  of 
this  charming  ware  is  the  rapidity  with  which  it 
changes  colour ; so  much  so  that,  after  a few  months 
of  constant  use,  the  white  surface  of  a teapot  becomes 
dark  brown,  or  even  black,  and  at  the  same  time 
acquires  glaze  from  manipulation.  Kentei  and 
Shuhei  are  regarded  as  most  eminent  masters  in  the 
manufacture  of  the  little  Japanese  Kiusu  (teapot). 

217 


JAPAN 

Innumerable  conceits  of  shape  and  varieties  of  deco- 
ration are  to  be  found  in  these  tiny  utensils,  of 
which  more  than  one  large  collection  has  been  made' 
by  Western  virtuosi.  Kentei  of  the  second  generation 
is  commonly  called  Sotaro.  He  followed  the 
methods  of  his  father,  but  preferred  floral  designs  to 
figure  subjects,  and  was  also  a manufacturer  of  por- 
celain. He  died  in  1869  at  the  age  of  fifty-six. 
The  family  name  has  now  been  changed  to  Inui. 
The  present  representative  is  Katsu-no-suke,  a ke- 
ramist  who  has  not  yet  shown  any  ability.  A potter 
of  the  nineteenth  century  who  rivalled  Kentei  in  the 
production  of  unglazed  ware  with  decoration  in 
coloured  enamels,  was  Kantei. 

Mention  may  be  made  here  of  the  Takayama 
and  Irie  families.  The  first  representative  of  the 
former  who  adopted  keramics  as  a profession  was 
Takayama  Aitaro,  sometimes  called  Genjiro.  He 
resided  at  Gojo,  and  became  a well-known  potter  of 
cups,  plates,  bowls,  and  so  forth  during  the  Meiwa 
era  (1764-1771).  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Gembei,  who  did  not  depart  from  his  father’s 
methods.  The  representative  of  the  third  generation 
was  Ai-no-suke.  From  his  time  (1854)  the  family 
manufactured  porcelain,  but  ceased  to  produce  art 
objects  and  confined  itself  to  laboratory  and  hospital 
utensils.  These  are  now  made  in  considerable  quan- 
tities by  the  fourth  representative,  Aitaro.  The 
story  of  the  Irie  family  is  similar.  Its  first  potter, 
Irie  Kuhei,  came  to  Kyoto  and  opened  a factory  at 
Mi-ike  in  1789,  producing  chiefly  cups,  bowls,  etc., 
in  decorated  faience.  In  1842  his  son,  of  the 
same  name,  moved  to  Gojo,  and  showed  so  much  skill 
that  he  was  ordered  to  make  fire-pots  for  use  in  the 

218 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

Imperial  Palace  at  the  Harvest  Festival  (1853). 
then  changed  his  name  to  Irie  Sakon.  His  son, 
Dosen,  abandoned  art  manufactures,  and  now  pro- 
duces porcelain  utensils  for  use  in  laboratories,  hos- 
pitals, and  so  forth. 

Entering  the  present  century,  the  student  finds  one 
of  the  greatest  names  in  Japan’s  keramic  annals. 
Nishimura  Zengoro  was  the  eleventh  descendant  of 
a potter  who  worked  at  Nara,  in  the  province  of 
Yamato,  about  the  year  1501.  The  family  then 
occupied  itself  chiefly  with  the  manufacture  of 
earthenware  idols,  but  towards  the  f close  of  the 
century  it  became  famous  for  the  excellence  of  its 
fire-boxes  (Jiiroy  These  were  an  important  article 
of  Cha-no-Tu  equipment,  and  their  manufacture  often 
occupied  the  attention  of  the  most  skilled  keramists. 
Patronised  by  the  renowned  dilettanti  Shuko  and  Jo-o, 
the  Nishimura  family’s  furo  came  into  fashion,  and 
the  production  was  continued  successfully  down  to  the 
time  of  the  tenth  generation,  whose  representative  was 
Nishimuro  Zengoro,  known  in  art  circles  as  Ryozen. 
It  is  of  this  man’s  son  that  special  note  must  be  taken. 
His  name  was  the  same  as  that  of  his  father,  — Zen- 
goro,— but  by  keramists  he  was  called  Hozen.  At 
first  he  was  apparently  content  to  follow  the  example 
of  his  ancestors,  and  to  manufacture  only  fire-boxes. 
Even  in  this  work  his  remarkable  dexterity  in  com- 
bining pates  of  different  colours  gave  earnest  of 
greater  achievements  in  other  branches.  In  the  Kyowa 
era  (1801  — 1803)  he  studied  diligently  at  the  Awata 
factory,  and  practised  the  manufacture  of  decorated 
porcelain  and  faience.  Before  long  his  celadons  and 
blue-and-white  porcelain  attracted  wide  attention,  and 
to  these,  like  his  great  rival  Mokubei,  he  added  ad- 

219 


JAPAN 

mirable  Imitations  of  the  so-called  old  Kochi-yakt 
(Cochin-Chinese  faience).  The  conditions  of  the 
time  were  especially  favourable  to  the  development  of 
his  art.  Long-continued  peace  had  filled  the  coffers 
of  the  nobles,  and  induced  those  luxurious  habits  of 
life  among  which  art  products  find  their  best  market. 
The  Court  at  Yedo,  presided  over  by  lyenari,  eleventh 
prince  of  the  Tokugawa  dynasty,  set  an  example  of 
brilliant  extravagance  to  which  the  feudal  princes 
were  nothing  loath  to  conform,  while  the  now  well- 
established  custom  of  sending  to  the  Shogun  yearly 
presents  of  pottery  and  porcelain  from  the  various  dis- 
tricts, had  engendered  a wholesome  rivalry  among 
the  provincial  factories.  Before  long  Zengoro’s  fame 
attracted  the  attention  of  Harunori,  feudal  chief  of^ 
Kishu.  He  invited  the  potter  (a.d.  1827)  to  his  prov- 
ince, and  there  set  up  for  him,  within  the  precincts  of 
the  Castle  Park,  a kiln  at  which  was  produced  the  cele- 
brated Oniwa-yakt  (honourable  park)  ware,  or  Kaira- 
ku-en  ware,  as  it  is  also  called  from  the  stamp  it  bears. 
It  was  an  imitation  of  the  Cochin-Chinese  faience  de- 
scribed above,  but  in  richness  and  purity  of  colour  it 
surpassed  its  original.  Like  Luca  della  Robbia,  Zen- 
goro  made  the  composition  and  application  of  glazes 
an  especial  study.  The  works  of  his  successors  and 
predecessors  may  be  searched  in  vain  for  examples  of 
parallel  perfection  in  this  branch  of  keramics.  His 
aubergine  porcelain,  and  the  rich  combinations  of  tur- 
quoise blue,  purple,  and  yellow  shown  in  the  glazes  of 
his  faience,  amply  justify  the  immense  popularity  at- 
tained by  the  Kairaku-en  ware.  A prominent  place 
among  his  achievements  belongs  to  his  ^^Kinrande''  or 
^‘Akaji-kinga,''  which  bears  the  stamp  ‘‘  EtrakuA  The 
idea  of  this  porcelain  was  derived  from  the  much- 

220 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

valued  Chinese  “rouge  vif”  of  the  Yung4o  period 
(1403—1425),  and  the  Japanese  potter  succeeded  in 
producing  a colour  little,  if  at  all,  inferior  to  the  best 
examples  of  the  original.  In  fact,  his  coral  red  glaze, 
lustrous  and  at  the  same  time  exquisitely  soft,  with  its 
wealth  of  golden  decoration  and  reserved  medallions 
containing  pictures  in  brilliant  blue  sous  couverte^  must 
be  classed  among  the  keramic  masterpieces,  not  of 
Japan  alone,  but  of  the  whole  world.  These  terms, 
Kinrande  (scarlet-and-gold-brocade  style),  and  Akaji- 
kinga  (golden  designs  on  a red  ground),  are  descriptive. 
The  term  Eiraku  was  suggested  by  thevjapanese  pro- 
nunciation of  the  Chinese  period-name  Tung-lo,  The 
Chief  of  Kiushu  also  bestowed  upon  Zengoro  another 
seal  inscribed  with  the  ideographs  Kahin  Sht-riu  {vide 
Plates  of  Marks).  This  the  potter  appears  to  have 
used  to  mark  his  choicest  pieces  only  ; a distinction 
which  accords  with  the  material  of  which  the  two 
seals  were  made,  that  bearing  the  characters  Eiraku 
being  of  silver,  and  that  bearing  the  characters  Kahin 
Shi-riu  of  gold.  He  has  left  a brief  account,  written 
by  himself,  of  his  visit  to  the  Prince  of  Kishu.  It 
runs  thus : “ In  October  of  the  tenth  year  of  Bunsei 
(1827),  Kinkosai  Sosa  being  charged  with  the  man- 
agement of  affairs  relating  to  the  Kii  Court,  had  the 
honour  of  an  audience  with  the  Prince  in  the  grand 
salon  of  Nishihama  Palace.  On  that  occasion  I, 
Nishimura  Hozen,  was  permitted  to  be  present,  at 
the  Prince’s  command,  and  had  lodgings  assigned  to 
me  in  the  Riuin-tei.  During  my  sojourn  in  the 
capital  (Wakayama)  I was  treated  with  the  most 
gracious  consideration.  A kiln  was  built  for  my  use 
in  the  Park,  and  workmen  placed  at  my  disposal.  In 
addition  to  many  marks  of  signal  favour,  a gold  seal. 


JAPAN 

bearing  the  characters  ‘ Ka-hin  Shi-riu  ’ was  given  to 
me,  with  injunction  not  to  affix  it  indiscriminately. 
I also  received  a silver  seal,  with  the  characters 
‘Ei-raku,’  for  marking  my  private  manufactures. 
What  an  occasion  was  it  for  me  to  be  loaded  with 
such  high  honours  ! What  happiness  to  be  admitted 
into  the  august  presence  of  the  Prince ! Such  good 
fortune  is  not  met  with  twice  in  a thousand  years.  It 
redounds  to  the  perpetual  fame  of  our  family.”  From 
the  time  of  this  visit  the  fame  of  Hozen,  or  Eiraku  as 
he  was  thenceforth  commonly  called,  rapidly  in- 
creased. He  established  himself  at  Kaseyama,  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Nara,  and  manufactured  all 
sorts  of  choice  wares.  In  1 840  he  was  invited  to 
Setsu  by  the  Lord  of  Koriyama,  and  he  there  in- 
structed the  potters  in  various  processes  of  their  art, 
returning  after  a few  months  to  Kaseyama.  It  had 
been  for  some  time  the  fashion  with  the  magnates  of 
the  Western  capital  to  test  the  great  potter’s  skill  by 
asking  him  to  copy  chef s-d' oeuvre  of  Chinese,  Korean, 
and  even  Dutch  origin,  which  had  been  handed  down 
in  their  families  for  generations.  Zengoro’s  success 
in  these  trials  of  skill  is  said  to  have  been  remarkable. 
It  is  recorded  that  a fire-box,  secretly  borrowed  by 
the  Chief  Minister  Takatsukasa  from  the  custodians  of 
the  Kono-e  heirlooms,  was  so  perfectly  imitated  at  the 
Eiraku  workshop  that  the  original  and  the  imitation 
were  not  distinguishable.  This  feat  procured  for  Zen- 
goro  another  seal  bearing  the  inscription  Tokin-ken 
(the  weighty  potter)  ; a mark  which  he  used  only  on 
wares  of  the  very  highest  character,  and  which  is 
consequently  very  seldom  met  with. 

From  Prince  Arisugawa  he  also  received  a docu- 
ment conferring  the  title  of  Ito-seimai  (the  world- 

222 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

renowned  keramist).  In  1840  he  opened  a new  kiln 
in  Narikata-machi,  near  Omuro,  in  Kyoto,  finding 
there  clay  well  suited  to  the  manufacture  of  fai- 
ence after  the  style  of  the  celebrated  Nomura  Nin- 
sei.  He  did  not  close  the  factory  near  Nara,  but 
handed  it  over  to  his  son  Sozaburo.  The  faience 
produced  by  Hozen  at  Omuro  was  called  Omuro-yakL 
It  had  a hard  pate,  and  its  glaze  differed  from  the 
ordinary  wares  of  Kyot5  in  being  of  a somewhat 
viscous,  granular  character.  The  decoration  was  at 
once  chaste  and  rich  ; gold,  red,  white,  black,  and 
silver  being  the  colours  principally  employed.  This 
manufacture  did  not  continue  long.  In  1850  Hozen’s 
house  was  destroyed  by  a conflagration.  He  moved 
to  Otsu,  and  constructing  another  kiln  on  the  shores 
of  Lake  Biwa,  devoted  himself  to  the  production  of 
porcelain  decorated  with  blue  under  the  glaze,  or  in 
the  Akajl-kinga  style  described  above.  Here  he  was 
known  by  the  name  of  Butsuyu.  The  exact  date  of 
his  death  is  not  recorded  : it  probably  occurred  about 
1855.  He  left  two  sons,  Sozaburo,  already  men- 
tioned, and  Zengoro,  whose  art  name  was  Wazen. 
Of  these,  the  latter  was  the  more  skilful,  but  both 
were  palpably  inferior  to  their  father.  In  1858  the 
brothers,  together  with  a fellow  keramist,  Ohashi 
Rakuzen,  were  invited  by  the  Lord  of  Kaga  to  assist 
the  revival  of  the  pottery  industry  in  his  province. 
Sozaburo  returned  to  Kyoto  after  a year's  absence, 
but  Wazen  remained  six  years  in  Kaga,  where  he 
materially  assisted  in  developing  the  Akaji-kinga  style 
of  decoration  — gold  designs  on  a red  ground  — now 
regarded  as  characteristic  of  Kaga  porcelain.  Speci- 
mens of  this  ware  manufactured  by  him  or  under  his 
direction  are  to  be  found  without  great  difficulty. 

223 


JAPAN 

They  are  generally  marked  with  the  place  of  their 
production  [vide  Marks  and  Seals),  and  can  thus  be 
easily  distinguished.  It  may  be  well  to  refer  here  to 
an  erroneous  notion  widely  entertained  that  Zengoro 
Hozen  visited  Kaga,  and  that  some  of  the  specimens 
manufactured  there  are  his  work.  Such  is  not  the 
case.  He  had  been  dead  some  three  years  before  his 
sons  received  the  Prince  of  Kaga’s  invitation. 

When  Zengoro  Wazen  revisited  Kyoto,  the  national 
troubles  induced  by  the  opening  of  foreign  intercourse 
were  tending  to  an  acute  stage,  and  all  art  industries 
had  suffered  from  the  depression  incidental  to  such  a 
revolution.  He  found  his  brother  working  in  part- 
nership with  Ohashi  Rakusen  under  circumstances  of 
great  difficulty.  Wazen  changed  the  family  name 
from  Nishimura  to  Eiraku,  and  for  a time  attempted 
to  find  a market  for  his  ware  in  the  disturbed  city. 
Unsuccessful,  he  migrated  to  Okazaki,  in  the  province 
of  Mikawa,  in  company  with  Ohashi  Rakusen,  and 
there  opened  a factory.  His  brother,  meantime, 
established  himself  in  Osaka  and  died  there  in  1873. 
Wazen  ultimately  returned  to  Kyoto  and  settled  at 
Abura-koji,  where  his  son  Eiraku  Tokuzen  now  carries 
on  the  business  partnership  with  Ohashi  Rakusen. 
Tokuzen’s  pieces  are  not  without  merit,  but  they  do 
not  approach  the  productions  of  his  grandfather. 
It  may  be  safely  stated,  indeed,  that  Zengoro  Hozen 
was  the  greatest  and  most  versatile  among  the  ke- 
ramists  of  Kyoto.  His  incomparable  aubergine,  tur- 
quoise, and  yellow  glazes ; his  coral  grounds  with 
gold  designs ; his  enamelled  and  blue-and-white 
porcelains;  his  white  ware  with  designs  in  relief; 
his  artistic  faience,  and  his  pottery  of  variously  col- 
oured clays  — all  these  are  masterpieces.  It  may  be 

224 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

mentioned,  as  a point  of  interest,  that,  according  to 
one  record,  Zengoro  Hozen  was  not  a lineal  descendant 
of  the  Nara  Furo-shi  (maker  of  urns),  Nishimura 
Zengoro,  but  was  in  reality  of  gentle  origin.  Ori- 
ginally destined  for  the  priesthood,  he  spent  — ac- 
cording to  this  account  — his  early  years  at  the  temple 
of  Daitoku,  in  Yamato.  There  it  chanced  that 
his  teacher,  Kobairiu,  a devotee  of  the  Cha-no-Yu, 
discovered  the  youth’s  aptitude  for  the  potter’s 
trade,  and  foreseeing  his  success,  caused  him  to  be 
adopted  into  the  family  of  Nishimura.  There  is 
nothing  conclusive  to  confirm  or  contradict  this 
account. 

The  remaining  keramists  of  Kyoto  whose  achieve- 
ments have  made  them  conspicuous  are  as  follows  : 

Zoroku  was  a potter  of  Gojo-zaka,  and  his  family: 
name  was  Mashimizu  Jutar5.  His  father,  Shimizu 
Genemon,  was  a head-man  of  Kugamura  in  the 
province  of  Yamashiro.  Jutaro  studied  the  art  under 
his  uncle  Wake  Kitei  [vide  Kitei).  Having  estab- 
lished himself  at  Gojo  in  1849,  adopted  the  art 
name  of  Zoroku,  and,  by  order  of  Prince  Myoho-in, 
changed  his  family  name  to  Mashimizu.  He  did 
not  originate  any  new  style  of  decoration.  His  fai- 
ence is,  however,  not  only  of  excellent  technique,  but 
also  true  to  the  best  traditions  of  the  chaste  old  Kyoto 
school.  He  further  distinguished  himself  as  a manu- 
facturer of  cHadon  porcelain.  In  1 864,  when  the  well- 
known  master  of  Tea  Ceremonials,  Sen-no  Soshitsu, 
had  the  honour  of  organising  a Cha-no-Tu  entertain- 
ment in  the  Imperial  Palace,  Zoroku,  by  special  com- 
mand, manufactured  a tea-jar  and  teacups  for  the 
occasion.  In  recognition  of  this  service  he  received 
the  name  of  Sogaku.  He  died  in  1878,  and  was 

VOL.  VIII. 15  22c 


JAPAN 

succeeded  by  his  son,  Jutaro,  who  continues  the  busi- 
ness on  the  same  lines. 

Kitei  was  a potter  of  Gojo-zaka,  and  his  family 
name  was  Wake  Heikichi.  He  commenced  the  man- 
ufacture of  faience  in  the  Kan-en  era  (1748-1750), 
adopting  methods  which  did  not  differ  appreciably 
from  those  of  Dohachi.  His  son,  of  the  same  name, 
was  equally  skilled.  Kitei  of  the  third  generation, 
who  commenced  work  during  the  Bunsei  era  (1818- 
1829),  acquired  considerable  reputation  as  a maker 
of  blue-and-white  porcelain.  Kitei  of  the  fourth 
generation  now  carries  on  the  industry. 

Seifu  Yohei  was  a potter  of  Gojo-zaka,  whose  art 
name  was  Baihin.  The  son  of  a bookseller,  Yasuda 
Yahei,  who  lived  in  Kanazawa,  he  came  to  Kyoto  dur- 
ing the  Bunsei  era  (1818—1829),  and  having  studied 
keramics  under  the  second  Dohachi,  opened  a factory 
on  his  own  account  in  1844.  He  manufactured  both 
pottery  and  porcelain,  taking  his  models  for  the  latter 
chiefly  from  Chinese  sources.  He  also  acquired  rep- 
utation for  his  Raku  ware  decorated  with  gold  and 
enamels,  and  for  his  blue-and-white  porcelain,  made 
in  imitation  of  antique  Chinese  pieces.  * In  1857  he 
was  specially  employed  by  the  Abbot  of  the  great 
temple  Honganji,  to  manufacture  porcelain  vessels 
with  red  and  gold  decoration  for  use  in  the  monastery, 
and  his  success  greatly  added  to  his  fame.  An  inti- 
mate friend  of  Tsuruna  Shoo  and  Ota  Kaisen,  he 
obtained  designs  from  these  artists,  and  often  induced 
them  to  decorate  his  wares  themselves.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son,  the  second  Seifu  Yohei  (art  name 
Gokei)  in  1861,  who  studied  painting  under  Maida 
Chodo.  This  keramist  confined  himself  almost  en- 
tirely to  the  manufacture  of  porcelain.  He  acquired 

226 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

reputation  for  skill  in  preparing  and  applying  coloured 
enamels,  and  for  the  delicacy  of  his  designs  in  relief. 
The  family  is  now  represented  by  the  third  Seifu 
Yohei,  whose  art  name  is  Baikei.  He  is  a brother 
of  Gokei,  and  succeeded  to  the  business  in  1878, 
Gokei's  son  being  then  only  eight  years  of  age. 
Seifu  Yohei  is  a potter  of  great  ability.  He  has  stud- 
ied painting  under  Tanomura  Shoko,  and  has  a wide 
circle  of  artist  friends  of  whose  designs  he  makes  fre- 
quent use.  His  porcelain  is  admirable,  both  in  tech- 
nique and  artistic  qualities,  and  in  many  respects  he 
ranks  as  one  of  his  country’s  greatest  potters.  Further 
reference  will  be  made  to  him  in  speaking  of  modern 
keramic  developments. 

Yosobei,  called  also  Iseya,  a potter  of  Gojo-zaka, 
began  to  work  in  the  Kyowa  era  (1801—1803).  He 
manufactured  faience  only,  and  his  reputation  rested 
on  the  severity  and  chastity  of  his  decorative  designs. 
He  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  whose  art  name  was 
Chowaken.  The  latter  formed  a partnership  with 
Wake  Kitei  and  his  (Kitei’s)  nephew  Kumakichi 
(called  also  Furoken  Kamefu),  and  the  three  manu- 
factured blue-and-white  and  enamelled  porcelain  of 
excellent  quality.  Chowaken  died  in  1845. 
with  his  productions  alone  that  the  name  of  Yosobei, 
or  Yoso,  is  generally  connected,  his  father’s  manu- 
factures being  scarcely  known. 

Kanzan  Denshichi,  a potter  of  Kyomizu,  is  a native 
of  Seto  in  Owari,  where  he  studied  the  keramic  art 
at  an  early  age.  Subsequently  he  travelled  from  one 
to  another  of  the  most  noteworthy  potteries  through- 
out Japan,  and  having  mastered  their  various  processes, 
settled,  in  1861,  at  Kyomizu-zaka  in  Kyoto.  His 
earliest  productions  did  not  attract  much  attention, 

227 


JAPAN 

and  after  the  abolition  of  feudalism  he  saw  nothing 
better  than  to  adapt  his  designs  solely  to  the  taste  of 
foreign  markets.  The  result  was  a faience  loaded 
with  decoration  in  gold  and  pigments.  Among 
modern  Kyoto  wares  this  is,  perhaps,  the  besf  known 
outside  Japan.  Though  too  often  a gaudy,  meretri- 
cious production,  unworthy  to  be  classed  with  the 
choice  efforts  of  Japanese  keramists,  some  specimens 
are  very  beautiful.  In  truth,  when  Kanzan  really 
puts  forth  his  strength,  he  manufactures  faience 
which,  alike  in  phe,  glaze,  crackle,  and  decoration, 
supports  comparison  with  anything  of  the  kind  ever 
made  in  Japan. 

Shofu  Katei,  a potter  of  Kyomizu,  came  thither,  in 
1850,  from  Owari,  of  which  province  he  was  a native. 
His  original  name  was  Kito  Kajuro,  but  when  settling 
in  Kyoto  he  called  himself  Katei,  and  assumed  the  art 
name  of  Shofu-tei.  He  did  not  distinguish  himself  for 
originality.  The  only  point  to  be  noted  with  refer- 
ence to  his  faience  is  that,  being  an  ardent  devotee 
and  student  of  Buddhism,  his  decorative  motives  were 
often  of  a religious  character,  as,  for  example,  the 
Shichi-fuku-jin,  the  Jugo  Doji,  the  Juroku  Rakan,  the 
Rishi,  and  so  forth.  The  first  Sh5fu-tei  was  succeeded 
by  his  son,  of  the  same  name,  in  1 864,  who  still  carries 
on  the  industry  with  considerable  success. 

Okumura  Yasutaro,  a potter  of  Kadowakicho  (a 
branch  street  of  Gojo-zaka),  commenced  the  manu- 
facture of  faience  in  1864.  His  art  name  is  Shozan. 
This  keramisfs  skill  in  imitating  the  works  of  the 
old  masters,  especially  Ninsei  and  Kenzan,  is  very 
remarkable.  A cup  made  by  him  used  to  be  exhib- 
ited in  a museum  of  antiquities  in  Tokyo  as  a genuine 
production  of  Nomura  Ninsei,  and  there  is  no  doubt 

228 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

that  many  of  his  productions  are  similarly  misjudged 
in  Western  collections.  Shozan  is  a true  representa- 
tive of  Japanese  household  industry.  Apart  from  the 
mechanical  operations  of  grinding  and  mixing  clays, 
every  process  of  the  manufacture  is  performed  by  the 
artist  himself  within  the  precincts  of  his  cottage. 
Among  his  wares  one  only  can  lay  claim  to  any  origi- 
nality. It  is  faience  of  which  the  surface  is  partially 
coated  with  green  sand  resembling  an  incipient 
growth  of  moss.  Such  conceits  are  not  common  in 
Japan.  They  are  confined,  for  the  most  part,  to  the 
inartistic  works  of  Makuzu  [vide  Yukansai). 

Sawamura  Tosa,  a potter  of  Gojo-zaka,  was  a pupil 
of  the  third  Rokubei.  He  opened  a factory  in  1876, 
and  employs  himself  chiefly  in  producing  wine  and  tea 
vessels.  There  is  nothing  remarkable  about  his  work. 

Asami  Gorosuke,  a potter  of  Gojo-zaka,  was  a 
pupil  of  the  second  Rokubei  and  also  of  the  third. 
He  opened  a factory  in  1852  and  devoted  himself 
principally  to  manufacturing  blue-and-white  porcelain. 
He  adopted  the  art  name  of  Shonzui  Gorosuke,  but 
there  is  little  danger  that  his  pieces  will  ever  be  mis- 
taken for  those  of  the  father  of  Japanese  porcelain 
manufacture,  Shonzui  Gorodayu. 

Yamamoto  Tatsunosuke,  a potter  of  Gojo-zaka, 
studied  the  art  under  Nakamura  Masagoro  [vide  Ebisei) 
and  opened  a factory  in  1864.  His  art  name  is  Riu- 
zan.  He  manufactures  both  faience  and  porcelain, 
but  chiefly  the  latter. 

Aki  Zenkichi,  a potter  of  Kyomizu,  opened  a 
factory  in  1876  and  copied  the  methods  of  Kenzan. 

Ito  Koemon,  better  known  by  his  art  name  of 
Tozan,  opened  a factory  at  Gojo-zaka  in  1862,  and 
obtained  some  distinction  as  a manufacturer  of  faience 

229 


JAPAN 

for  foreign  use.  He  adopts  the  Awata  style,  using  for 
the  most  part  floral  decoration.  His  productions, 
shown  at  competitive  exhibitions  in  Japan,  have  ob- 
tained various  certificates  and  awards  of  merit,  and 
will  be  referred  to  again  in  connection  with  modern 
keramic  developments. 

Morimoto  Sukezaemon,  a native  of  Kaseyama,  in 
the  province  of  Yamashiro,  discovered  porcelain  stone 
in  the  vicinity  of  his  house  in  1827,  and  engaged  an 
expert  of  Gojo-zaka,  Kyoto,  to  assist  in  opening  a 
factory.  The  ware  produced  was  porcelain  decorated 
with  blue  under  the  glaze  after  Chinese  models. 
Small  pieces  only,  chiefly  teapots,  obtained  any 
measure  of  public  favour.  This  Kaseyama-yaki,  as  it 
is  called,  does  not  strictly  belong  to  the  present  sec- 
tion, but  is  generally  classed  with  Kyoto  wares.  As 
late  as  1847  ^he  factory  flourished  under  the  patronage 
of  Prince  Ichijo,  but  with  the  fall  of  feudalism  (1868) 
its  activity  ceased. 

Among  the  potters  of  Kyoto  a woman,  originally 
called  Nobu,  but  known  in  art  as  Otagaki  Rengetsu, 
has  left  a well-remembered  name.  Her  father  was  a 
nobleman  of  Ise,  but  on  her  mother’s  second  marriage 
with  a vassal  of  the  Kameoka  chief,  in  Tamba,  she 
was  adopted  into  the  family  of  Otagaki  Banzaemon, 
a gentleman  in  the  service  of  the  great  temple 
Chion-in,  in  Kyoto.  As  was  often  the  case  in 
those  times  with  girls  of  gentle  birth,  she  served 
until  her  eighteenth  year  as  a lady-in-waiting  in  the 
household  of  the  Kameoka  chief.  She  then  returned 
to  Kyoto  and  married,  but  after  the  deaths  of  her 
husband  and  her  only  child,  she  shaved  her  head  and 
retired  from  secular  life,  assuming  the  name  of  Ren- 
getsu. This  happened  in  1823.  Rengetsu  was  then 

230 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

thirty-two  years  of  age.  She  lived  to  be  eighty-five, 
and  during  the  whole  period  of  her  widowhood  she 
appears  to  have  made  the  manufacture  of  pottery  and 
the  writing  of  poetry  her  chief  pastimes.  In  both 
she  showed  much  proficiency.  Until  a recent  date 
strips  of  illuminated  paper  with  verses  in  her  own 
handwriting  used  to  be  sold  in  Kyoto.  Many  of  these 
compositions  are  full  of  grace  and  feeling.  It  is  related 
that  within  an  hour  of  her  decease  she  composed  the 
lines : — 

Tsuyu  hodo  mo 
kokoro  ni  kakaru 
kumo  mo  nashi 
kyo  wo  kagiri  no 
yugure  no  sora 

(Without  the  shadow  of  a cloud  to  darken  my  soul 
The  sun  of  my  life  sets  in  a clear  evening  sky.) 

Her  ware,  known  generally  as  Rengetsu-yakiy  is  un- 
glazed and  without  enamel  decoration.  The  pate  is 
thin  and  hard  — manufactured  with  clay  from  Shiga- 
raki,  in  Omi,  and  Higashi-yama,  in  Kyoto  — and  the 
decoration  is  plastic,  a characteristic  design  being  a 
lotus  flower  and  leaves,  modelled  with  admirable 
fidelity.  It  has  been  said  that  she  derived  her  artist 
name  from  her  skill  in  modelling  this  flower  {ren)^  but 
the  truth  is  that  she  chose  her  subject  for  the  sake  of 
her  name.  On  most  of  her  pieces  she  wrote  verses 
composed  by  herself.  Rengetsu  did  not  bake  her 
own  ware.  This  part  of  the  work  she  entrusted  to 
Taizan,  of  Gojo-zaka,  Rokubei  of  Kyomizu,  or  Ku- 
ado  of  Shimogawara.  The  last-named  potter  imitated 
her  methods,  and  specimens  of  Kuroda  Rengetsu-yaki 
are  scarcely  to  be  distinguished  from  the  genuine 
pottery  of  Otagaki  Rengetsu. 

231 


JAPAN 

Yukansai,  generally  known  as  Roku  no  Yukansai, 
opened  a factory  in  Ishibashi-machi,  close  to  the  great 
temple  Chion-in,  in  the  year  1705.  He  devoted 
himself  to  the  production  of  faience  after  the  Raku 
style.  His  successors  followed  the  same  line,  but 
added  to  their  business  the  preparation  and  sale  of 
glazing  materials.  They  were  named  either  Chohei 
or  Chozo.  The  representative  of  the  third  genera- 
tion, Chozo,  whose  pseudonym  was  Kosai,  removed 
to  Makuzu-ga-hara,  in  the  Gion  district  of  the  city, 
and  there  commenced  to  produce  faience  with  designs 
in  high  relief  and  porcelain  decorated  with  blue 
under  the  glaze.  He  attained  considerable  distinc- 
tion. Prince  Kujo  bestowed  on  him  the  name  of 
Roku-roku-rin,  and  Prince  Kacho  that  of  Kozan. 
He  also  received  a seal  from  Kobori  Sochiu,  a well- 
known  dilettante,  and  the  title  of  “ Makuzu  ’’  from 
Prince  Yasui.  Thenceforth  his  wares  were  known  as 
Makuzu-yakL  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Chohei, 
and  the  latter  by  his  son  Hase,  who  in  i860 
changed  his  name  to  Miyagawa  Kozan.  In  1861 
Kozan  went  to  Bizen  at  the  invitation  of  the  Lord 
of  that  province,  but  in  the  following  year  he  returned 
to  Kyoto,  and  at  the  instigation  of  a gentleman  of 
Sasshiu,  called  Komatsu  Tatewaki,  devoted  himself  to 
producing  imitations  of  Satsuma  faience.  In  1869  he 
moved  to  Ota,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Yokohama, 
and  has  remained  there  ever  since,  manufacturing 
wares  which  will  be  spoken  of  by-and-by. 

In  the  analysis  given  above  of  clays  used  at  Awata, 
mention  is  made  of  only  two  principal  varieties,  the  Omi 
clay,  obtained  at  Shigaraki,  and  the  Kyoto  clay,  obtained  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Awata.  The  latter  is  not  used  by  the 
potters  of  Gojo-zaka  or  Kyomizu-zaka.  All  alike  employ 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

the  Shigaraki  material,  but  at  Gojo  and  Kyomizu  it  is 
mixed  with  clays  found  in  those  vicinities,  and  also  with 
clays  obtained  from  Dainichi-yama,  in  the  Otagi  district  of 
Yamashiro  province,  and  from  Kokagori,  in  Goshu.  With 
the  glazing  material  two  varieties  of  lixiviated  wood-ash  are 
mixed,' — the  ash  of  the  Isu-no-ki^  a hard  black  wood  that 
grows  in  the  province  of  Sasshu,  and  that  of  the  evergreen 
oak  [Nara-no-ki),  It  is  impossible  to  determine  the  pro- 
portions in  which  these  various  materials  are  mixed. 
Different  potters  employ  different  processes  and  are  naturally 
reticent  as  to  their  methods.  The  faience  of  Kyoto  offers  a 
large  variety  of  pates,  from  the  hard,  open-grained,  reddish 
grey  found  in  some  of  Ninsei’s  and  Kenzan’s  pieces,  to  the 
close,  white,  and  comparatively  soft  pate  of  Kinkozan  and 
Iwakura.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  glaze,  though  in  a 
lesser  degree.  Not  only  does  its  crackle  vary  in  size  and 
distinctness,  but  its  colour  passes  from  the  cold  grey  of  the 
representative  old  Awata-yaki,  through  the  soft,  glossy 
cream-white  of  Taizan,  and  the  warm,  yellowish  ivory  tint 
of  Iwakura,  to  the  peculiar  pinkish  grey  of  Ninsei  and  the 
Kyomizu  school. 

The  porcelain  manufacture  of  Kyoto  is  now  an 
important  industry,  but  some  really  choice  specimens 
are  produced.  The  export  trade,  however,  is  supplied 
by  wholesale  processes.  Hundreds  of  vases  and  jars, 
rudely  and  gaudily  decorated  with  impure  blue  under 
the  glaze  and  crude  pigments  above  it,  are  sent  west- 
ward, to  the  great  injury  of  the  country’s  art  reputation. 
The  materials  used  in  making  this  porcelain  are  the  clay 
of  Shigaraki,  in  Omi  province,  and  the  stone  of  Ama- 
kusa,  an  island  off  the  west  coast  of  Kiushu.  These 
are  mixed  in  the  proportion  of  three  to  seven,  or  four 
to  six,  parts  by  volume.  The  Amakusa  stone  comes  as 
ballast  in  junks,  and  the  Shigaraki  clay  has  to  be  trans- 
ported by  land.  Thus  the  expense  of  manufacture  is 
very  considerable  and  the  supply  of  materials  uncertain. 

233 


JAPAN 

Four  specimens  of  Kyoto  porcelain  masses  have  been 
analysed  by  Mr.  Korschelt.  The  results  of  his  examination, 
in  the  case  of  the  specimens  which  differed  most,  are  as 
follows : — 

KYOTO  PORCELAIN  MASSES 


Silica. 

Alumina. 

Iron 

Oxide. 

Lime,  Pot- 
ash, ETC. 

Specimen  i 

. . 69.52 

20.53 

0.13 

5.46 

Specimen  2 

• • 74-54 

17-73 

0.64 

5-47 

To  the  above  mixture  of  materials  from  Hizen  and  Omi, 
there  is  added  one-half  of  a volume-part  of  washed  charcoal- 
powder.  Mr.  Korschelt  suggests  that  this  addition  of  char- 
coal may  be  intended  to  make  the  ware  more  porous,  and 
that  it  is  probably  resorted  to  only  in  the  case  of  articles 
which  are  especially  likely  to  undergo  change  of  form  in  the 
kiln.  According  to  the  same  authority,  the  porcelain  of 
Kyoto  has  a closer  resemblance  than  that  of  Owari  to  the 
European  article,  but  is  nevertheless  a special  kind  of  ware 
so  far  as  the  raw  materials  are  concerned,  its  average  compo- 
sition being  felspar  33.07,  clay  substance  29.89,  and  quartz 
35.56.  The  Kyoto  product  is  whiter  and  finer  than  that 
of  Owari,  but  yields  to  the  latter  in  point  of  transparency. 

It  will  be  convenient  to  note  here  that  among  Japanese 
porcelains  six  different  kinds  may  be  distinguished.  Their 
names  and  average  constituents  are  as  follows : — 


CONSTITUENTS 

OF 

SIX  VARIETIES 

OF  JAPANESE  PORCELAIN 

Name. 

Felspar. 

Clay  Substance. 

Quartz. 

Owari  Ware  . 

. . 42.06 

28.45 

27.31 

Kyoto  Ware  . 

• • 33-07 

29.89 

35-56 

Arita  Ware  . 

. . 20.32 

30.84 

46.62 

Tajima  Ware . 

. . 15.90 

39-58 

42.50 

Choshu  Ware 

. . 23.09 

35-70 

39.38 

Harima  Ware 

. . 21.04 

39.91 

36.61 

Each  of  the  principal  manufacturing  districts  in  Kyot5  — 
as  Awata,  Gojo,  and  Kyomizu  — has  a large  kiln  where  the 
first  baking  of  the  pieces  is  performed.  This  kiln  consists 
of  a series  of  arched  ovens,  arranged  one  above  the  other  on 
an  inclined  plane.  The  furnace  is  at  the  bottom  of  the  tier, 
and  the  caloric  passes  from  vault  to  vault  by  square,  lateral 

234 


WARES  OF  KYOTO 

openings.  The  same  general  form  of  kiln  is  used  in  Hizen 
and  Owari,  with  one  important  difference,  that  the  heat 
circulates  through  the  vaults  by  holes  cut  in  the  bottom  of 
each.  According  to  the  Kyoto  keramists,  experience  shows 
that  caloric  impinging  laterally  is  better  suited  for  the  baking 
of  porcelain  and  pottery  than  caloric  ascending  vertically. 
The  fuel  used  is  pine  faggots,  and  the  furnace  is  kept 
burning  for  about  three  days.  On  the  latter  point  it  is  not 
possible  to  speak  with  precision.  There  is  no  fixed  rule. 
Through  a little  window  in  each  vault  the  workmen  watch 
the  progress  of  the  baking,  or  with  an  iron  tongs  draw  out 
and  examine  experimental  specimens.  At  the  Awata  kiln, 
however,  the  condition  of  the  ware  is  judged  by  the  colour 
of  the  flame.  Pieces  placed  in  the  lower  tiers,  and  there- 
fore exposed  to  the  highest  temperature,  are  enclosed  in 
seggars,  and  in  every  case  a powdered  stone  (called  Hinoka- 
sekt)  obtained  from  Otagi,  in  Yamashiro,  is  employed  to 
prevent  adhesion  to  the  floor  of  the  oven  or  the  base  of 
the  seggars.  This  stoving  is  final,  in  the  case  of  specimens 
decorated  only  with  blue  under  the  glaze.  Where  enamels 
or  glazes  a demi  feu  are  employed,  they  are  subsequently 
fixed  at  a lower  temperature  in  little  household  kilns  (called 
Kin-gama). 

Associated  with  the  construction  of  kilns  is  the  name  of 
an  expert,  Ogawa  Kyuemon,  a native  of  Wakasugi,  in  the 
province  of  Kaga,  who  became  known  for  his  skill  in  this 
matter  during  the  Bunsei  era  (1818-1829).  There  is  no 
information  with  respect  to  the  improvements  introduced 
by  him,  but  in  i_839  he  was  employed  to  construct  a kiln  at 
Hinokuchi,  in  Osaka;  and  in  1847  he  was  summoned,  for 
the  same  purpose,  to  Shikaseyama,  in  Yamashiro,  by  Prince 
Ichijo.  The  latter  was  so  pleased  with  Ogawa’s  work  that 
he  bestowed  on  him  a pension  in  perpetuity.  In  the  same 
year  Ogawa  directed  the  building  of  a kiln  at  Otokoyama, 
in  Kiushu,  and  so  late  as  1877  he  performed  a similar  office 
in  Ishikawa  Prefecture.  His  son,  Tetsu-no-suke,  and  his 
grandson  U-no-suke  (pseudonym  Ojuen  Bunsai),  now 
manufacture  faience  at  Goj5  in  Kyoto. 


235 


Chapter  V 

WARES  OF  KAGA  {ISHIKAWA) 
PREFECTURE 

After  the  wares  of  Hizen,  Satsuma,  and 
Kyoto  there  is  no  keramic  production  of 
Japan  better  known  than  the  Kutani-yaki. 
The  origin  of  this  ware  is  attributed  to 
Maeda  Toshiharu,  feudal  lord  of  Daishdji,  who  is  said 
to  have  discovered  a bed  of  excellent  porcelain  stone  at 
the  foot  of  a hill  called  Dainichi,  near  the  village  of 
Kutani.  This  event  occurred  during  the  Keian  era 
(1648-1651).  Some  authorities  maintain  that  no 
keramic  industry  existed  in  Kaga  previous  to  that 
time,  and  derive  confirmation  of  their  view  from  the 
isolated  position  of  the  province,  lying  as  it  does  on 
the  extreme  west  of  Japan,  and  being  separated  by  a 
lofty  range  of  mountains  from  Kyoto,  the  centre  of 
luxury  and  art  patronage.  More  accurate  investiga- 
tions show,  however,  that  a pottery  kiln  had  existed 
at  Suizaka  (now  called  Kurose),  in  the  vicinity  of 
Daishdji,  for  fully  half  a century  before  the  time  of 
Maeda  Toshiharu.  The  wares  produced  there  — 
Suizaka-yaki  — were  faience  of  the  Seto  type  ; that 
is  to  say,  pottery  of  dark,  coarse  pate^  covered  with 
mahogany  coloured  or  reddish  brown  glaze.  The 
change  that  Maeda  Toshiharu  sought  to  inaugurate 
was  the  manufacture  of  porcelain,  an  industry  for 
which  Hizen  had  already  acquired  an  enviable  repu- 

236 


WARES  OF  KAGA 

tation.  The  two  best  potters  of  Suizaka  at  that 
epoch  were  Tamura  Gonzaemon  and  Goto  Saijiro. 
Toshiharu  directed  these  men  to  open  a new  kiln  at 
Kutani,  in  the  Enuma  district  of  the  province,  and 
to  employ  the  lately  discovered  porcelain  stone  of 
Dainichi.  The  essay  was  not  successful,  and  gave  so 
little  promise  that  it  was  temporarily  abandoned. 
During  the  Manji  era  (1658-1660)  Maeda  Toshiaki, 
the  son  and  successor  of  Maeda  Toshiharu,  regretting 
the  fate  of  the  enterprise  that  his  father  had  desired 
to  establish,  sent  Goto  ^aijiro  to  Hizen  for  the  pur- 
pose of  studying  the  processes  of  porcelain  manufacture. 
Goto  made  the  journey,  but  found  that  the  secrets 
of  the  art  were  guarded  with  the  greatest  jealousy  at 
Arita.  His  only  resource  was  to  accept  service  in 
the  household  of  a potter,  and  to  behave  as  though 
he  intended  to  become  a permanent  resident  of  the 
province.  This  he  was  able  to  accomplish,  after 
three  years’  service,  by  marrying  a woman  of  the 
place,  after  which  his  employer,  who  had  counte- 
nanced the  marriage,  admitted  him  into  the  porcelain 
works.  After  four  years  of  unremitting  application. 
Goto,  feeling  that  he  had  sufficiently  mastered  the 
processes  of  the  art,  deserted  his  wife  and  children 
and  fled  to  Kaga,  where  he  submitted  to  his  prince  a l 
full  report  of  the  Arita  methods.^  After  this  event,  j 
which  may  be  placed  in  the  year  1664,  the  Kutani 
potters  rapidly  attained  a high  standard  of  skill. 
The  wares  that  they  produced  were  of  two  kinds. 
The  first,  and  more  characteristic,  was  Ao-Kutani,  so 
called  from  a deep  green  [ao")  glaze,  of  great  bril- 
liancy and  beauty,  which  was  largely  used  in  its  dec- 
oration. Associated  with  this  glaze  were  others,  not 


^ See  Appendix,  note  5. 


237 


JAPAN 

less  lustrous  and  full-toned,  — yellow,  purple,  and  soft 
Prussian  blue.  The  glazes  were  applied  so  as  to  form 
diapers,  scrolls,  and  floral  designs  ; or  they  were  simply 
run  over  patterns  traced  in  black  on  the  biscuit.  The 
second  class  of  ware  was  decorated  somewhat  after 
the  Arita  fashion,  with  this  principal  difference,  — that 
the  Kutani  potters  seldom  employed  blue  under  the 
glaze  in  conjunction  with  enamels,  except  in  wholly 
subordinate  positions.  Their  chief  colours  were 
green  and  red,  supplemented  by  purple,  yellow,  blue 
(enamel),  silver,  and  gold.  ^The  Kutani  red  was  a 
specialty,  — a peculiarly  soft,  subdued,  opaque  colour, 
varying  from  rich  Indian  red  to  russet  brown.  For 
designs  the  early  potters  had  recourse  to  a well-known 
artist,  Kuzumi  Morikaga,  of  the  Kano  school,  a pupil 
of  the  renowned  Tanyu.  From  his  sketches  they  cop- 
ied miniature  landscapes,  flowers  ruffled  by  the  breeze, 
sparrows  perched  among  plum-branches,  and  other 
glimpses  of  nature  in  her  simplest  garb.  On  some  of 
their  choice  pieces  the  decoration  is  of  a purely  formal 
character,  — diapers,  scrolls,  and  medallions  enclos- 
ing conventional  symbols.  On  others  it  is  essentially 
pictorial.  Figure  subjects  are  rarely  found,  except  the 
well-known  Chinese  children  [Karako),  The  amateur 
may  be  tolerably  confident  that  specimens  decorated 
with  peacocks,  masses  of  chrysanthemums  and  peonies, 
figures  of  wrinkled  saints,  brightly  apparelled  ladies, 
cocks  upon  drums,  and  so  forth,  belong  to  the  manu- 
factures of  modern  times. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  the  first  place  among 
Japanese  enamelled  porcelains  does  not  belong  to 
the  Kutani-yaki,  In  wealth  and  profusion  of  or- 
nament the  Chrysanthemo-poeonienne  family  of  Imari 
appeals  more  forcibly  to  Western  taste,  while  the 

238 


WARES  OF  KAGA 

productions  of  the  Kakiemon  school  are  chaster 
and  more  delicate.  But  for  decorative  effect,  com- 
bined with  softness  and  artistic  beauty,  the  Ao-Kutani 
has,  perhaps,  no  equal.  The  transparency,  purity,  and 
richness  of  the  enamels  are  not  unique.  In  the  best 
wares  of  Arita  and  even  of  Kyoto  these  features  are 
equally  conspicuous.  The  charm  of  the  Ao-Kutani 
is  due  primarily  to  the  admirable  harmony  of  its 
colours  and  to  their  skilful  massing,  and  secondarily 
to  the  technical  excellence  shown  in  the  manner  of 
applying  the  enamels.  The  Kutani  potter,  in  tracing 
his  designs,  used  enamels  with  as  much  facility  as 
though  they  were  ordinary  pigments,  and  balanced 
his  masses  of  green,  red,  blue,  purple,  and  yellow 
so  perfectly  that  their  harmony  delights  the  sense  of 
sight  as  keenly  as  the  motive  they  served  to  depict 
appeals  to  the  artistic  instinct.  Besides,  Japan  has  the 
right  to  claim  this  decorative  fashion  as  her  own 
invention.  Its  origin  has  been  sometimes  attributed 
to  the  Kochi-yaki,  or  so-called  faience  of  Cochin 
China.  But  the  two  have  nothing  in  common 
beyond  similarity  in  the  colour  and  quality  of 
their  enamels.  Still  more  marked  is  the  difference 
between  the  Ao-kutani  and  every  other  porcelain  of 
China  or  Japan.  Thus  the  ware  acquires  additional 
interest  as  a genuine  representative  of  Japanese 
taste. 

The  same  is  true,  though  to  a less  conspicuous 
extent,  of  the  second  family  of  Kutani  ware,  — the 
famille  rouge^  as  it  may  not  inaptly  be  called  in 
contradistinction  to  the  famille  verte  [Ao-kutani), 
The  dominant  decorative  colour  in  this  ware  is  red  — 
rouge  mat ; varying  from  Indian  red  to  russet.  It  is 
generally  employed  in  diapers  or  scrolls  separating 

239  _ 


xj  A P A N 

medallions  which  contain  floral  compositions,  land- 
scapes, dragons,  phoenixes,  children  at  play,  and  so 
forth,  in  yellow,  green,  purple,  and  red  enamels. 
Vases  of  this  Ko-kutani  (old  Kutani)  are  scarcely  ever 
found.  Indeed,  specimens  of  any  shape  are  rare,  but 
those  most  frequently  met  with  are  plates,  small 
dishes  {muko-dzuke  or  vegetable  vessels),  cups,  sake 
bottles,  censers,  and  incense-boxes  [kd-go).  They  pre- 
sent a large  variety  of  decorative  designs,  executed 
sometimes  with  consummate  skill  and  always  with 
artistic  feeling.  There  is  no  difficulty  in  distin- 
guishing these  pieces  from  the  enamelled  porcelains 
of  Arita  or  Nabeshima  : the  balance  and  softness 
of  the  colours ; their  tone ; the  subdued  yet  rich 
character  of  the  decoration,  and  the  comparative 
absence  of  gold  and  silver  in  combination  with 
vitrifiable  enamels,  constitute  familiar  points  of 
difference. 

One  class  of  old  Kutani  decoration,  belonging  to 
the  famille  rouge,  must  be  specially  mentioned.  In 
this  the  whole  surface  of  the  piece  is  covered  with 
red,  to  which  are  applied  designs  in  gold,  silver,  light 
green,  and,  more  rarely,  purple  and  yellow  enamels. 
It  has  been  erroneously  asserted,  and  is  commonly  be- 
lieved, that  the  first  employment  of  red  as  a ground 
for  decorative  designs  belongs  to  a late  period  of  the 
Kutani  manufacture.  Such  is  not  the  case.  This 
fashion  of  decoration  occurs  on  old  and  choice  ex- 
amples of  the  ware.  But  the  character  of  the  red 
differs  essentially  from  that  of  the  modern  manufac- 
ture ; the  former  being  a soft,  subdued  colour,  more 
like  a bloom  than  an  enamel ; the  latter  a glossy  and 
comparatively  crude  pigment.  A further  and  readily 
appreciated  distinction  is  that  the  gold  and  silver  of 

240 


WARES  OF  KAGA 

the  ancient  decorators  are  almost  entirely  free  from 
glitter.  They  present  the  appearance  of  virgin  metals 
that  have  undergone  the  action  of  heat  without 
subsequent  burnishing.  This  is  partly  due  to  the 
oxidisation  of  age,  but  chiefly  to  the  manner  in 
which  the  metals  were  prepared  and  applied.  The 
subdued  richness  and  harmony  of  the  result  can  hardly 
be  over-praised. 

It  is  stated  above  that  blue  sous  couverte  was  seldom 
used  in  combination  with  enamels  by  the  Kutani  pot- 
ters. The  statement  is  intended  to  direct  attention 
to  a difference  between  the  decorative  methods  of 
Arita  and  Kutani.  At  Arita,  it  will  be  remembered, 
masses  of  blue  designs  under  the  glaze  were  commonly 
combined  with  similarly  profuse  coloured  ornamenta- 
tion above  it.  At  Kutani  this  fashion  was  not  fol- 
lowed. Where  blue  sous  couverte  occurs,  it  is  found 
only  in  subordinate  positions,  as  on  the  under  surface 
of  plates  or  in  the  minor  parts  of  a design.  But  speci- 
mens decorated  entirely  with  blue  under  the  glaze, 
though  exceedingly  rare,  are  sometimes  met  with.  In 
these,  as  well  as  in  the  former  class  of  cases,  the  tone* 
of  the  blue  is  peculiar.  It  lacks  the  depth  and  richness 
of  the  best  Hizen  blues,  and  is  equally  removed  from 
the  delicate  purity  of  the  Hirado  colour.  It  is,  in 
fact,  an  inferior  and  somewhat  muddy  pigment,  though 
not  unredeemed  by  a certain  softness  and  sobriety. 

For  two  reasons  these  remarks  have  been  thus  far  con- 
fined to  the  decoration  of  the  Kutani  ware  : first,  because  the 
character  of  the  decoration  is  so  essentially  distinct,  and 
secondly  because  the  question  of  pate  and  glaze  presents 
peculiar  difficulty.  To  explain  the  nature  of  this  difficulty, 
analyses  of  Kaga  ware  recently  made  by  Mr.  Korschelt  may 
be  quoted.  The  following  results  were  obtained  : — 

VOL.  VIII. — 1 6 


JAPAN 


KAGA  WARE  MASSES 


Silica. 

Alumina. 

Iron 

Oxide. 

Limb,  Pot- 
ash, ETC. 

Water. 

Specimen  i 

. . 64.66 

23.61 

0.88 

7.28 

2.55 

Specimen  2 

. . 68.19 

22.58 

0.31 

6.73 

1.95 

Specimen  3 

. 67.69 

24.14 

0.19 

4.92 

3-37 

Specimen  4 

• • 67.97 

21.56 

0.89 

4.05 

5.20 

Specimen  5 

. . 70.96 

20.17 

0.46 

7.04 

1-37 

Specimen  6 

. . 71.51 

22.85 

0.66 

2.77 

1.92 

The  six  masses  were  all  differently  compounded.  Speci- 
men I was  of  clay  found  at  Chikano-mura,  Kaga,  without  any 
addition.  The  ware  obtained  from  this  mass  was  faience, 
having  a tolerably  white  pate^  like  that  of  inferior  Arita  por- 
celain, but  not  transparent.  Specimen  2 was  a mixture,  in 
the  proportion  of  7 to  3,  of  clay  from  Gokokuji-mura  and 
stone  from  Nabedani-mura,  both  in  the  province  of  Kaga. 
The  ware  obtained  from  this  mass  was  porcelain,  having  a 
yellowish,  slightly  transparent/)^/^.  Specimen  3 was  a mix- 
ture similar  to  specimen  2,  except  that  one  part  of  the  stone 
from  Nabedani-mura  was  replaced  by  a stone  from  Onomura. 
The  ware  obtained  from  this  mass  was  faience,  having  a yel- 
lowish-white pate.  Specimen  4 consisted  entirely  of  clay 
from  Hanida-mura,  in  Kaga.  The  ware  obtained  from  it 
was  stone-ware,  having  a pate  like  that  of  the  preceding 
specimen.  Specimen  5 was  a mixture  of  four  parts  stone 
from  Gokokuji-mura,  two  parts  stone  from  Nabedani-mura, 
and  four  parts  stone  from  Aratani-mura.  The  ware  obtained 
was  close-grained,  tolerably  transparent  porcelain,  of  bluish 
tint.  Specimen  6 was  a mixture  of  unascertained  materials. 
It  gave  a porcelain  very  white  and  close-grained,  but  little 
transparent.  The  appearance  of  the  fracture  resembled  that 
of  European  porcelain,  being  less  granular  and  stony  than 
Arita  ware,  and  less  lustrous  than  the  porcelain  of  Owari. 

Commenting  on  these  analyses,  Mr.  Korschelt  says : 
‘‘It  appears  that  in  Kaga  there  are  manufactured  from  the 
same  raw  materials  two  different  articles : one  a transparent 
porcelain ; the  other  a faience,  or  stone-ware,  of  yellowish 
p^te  and  colourless  glaze.  Between  the  two,  however,  there 
are  transitions  so  gradual  as  to  be  difficult  of  distinction.  As 

242 


WARES  OF  KAGA 

the  raw  material  of  all  seems  to  be  the  same  kind  of  stone  — 
no  importance  attaching  to  the  fact  that  it  is  called  clay  some- 
times— we  must  conclude  that  it  depends  upon  the  degree 
of  heat  whether  the  Kaga  ware  emerges  from  the  oven  a yel- 
lowish faience  or  stone-ware,  or  a white  or  bluish  porcelain/’ 
Mr.  Korschelt  further  observes : ‘‘  The  differences  in  the 
chemical  composition  of  the  Kaga  wares  are  not  greater,  but 
rather  less,  than  those  in  the  wares  of  Arita,  and  both  are 
manufactured  from  one  raw  material,  a stone.  But  the 
analyses  show  that  the  porcelain  stone  of  Kaga  is  not  identi- 
cal with  the  porcelain  stone  of  Hizen.  The  former  contains 
much  less  silica  and  much  more  clay-earth  and  alkalies  than 
the  latter.”  With  regard,  on  the  other  hand,  to  the  quanti- 
ties of  the  constituents  of  Kaga  wares,  the  following  table 
will  show  that  considerable  differences  exist : — 


CONSTITUENTS  OF  KAGA  WARE 


No. 

Felspar. 

Clay  Substance. 

Quartz. 

Specimen  i.  Stone- ware 

• • 19-53 

47-34 

31.69 

Specimen  2.  Stone-ware 

. . 20.51 

45-51 

32.82 

Specimen  3.  Porcelain  . 

• • 39-53 

33-75 

25.25 

Specimen  4.  Porcelain  . 

. . 41.89 

27-34 

29.81 

Specimen  5.  Porcelain  . 

. . 14.31 

44.78 

39-54 

In  preparing  the  glazing  material,  lixiviated  ashes  of 
Keyaki  (Planecu  Japonica)  were  mixed  with  the  porcelain  stones 
of  Nabedani  and  Gokokuji.  It  is  not  to  be  assumed  that 
all  the  materials  entering  into  the  above  masses  were  known 
to  the  ancient  potters  of  Kutani.  Which  of  them  they  did 
know,  and  in  what  manner  they  employed  them,  there  is 
unfortunately  no  hope  of  ascertaining  now.  A careful  exami- 
nation of  Kutani  specimens  produced  in  the  seventeenth  and 
early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  shows,  however,  four 
distinct  varieties  of  ware.  The  first  is  stone-ware,  heavy  in 
proportion  to  its  thickness,  and  of  tolerably  fine  quality : its 
timbre  poor,  showing  a large  ratio  of  clayey  substance ; its 
colour  grey,  verging  on  brown,  and  its  glaze  impure  white, 
often  disfigured  by  minute  pitting.  The  second  is  semi- 
porcelain, often  no  harder  than  faience,  thin  and  light.  The 
glaze  of  this  variety,  always  soft  and  opaque  and  generally 

243 


JAPAN 

showing  accidental  crackle,  is  sometimes  greyish  white,  and 
sometimes  comparable  to  refined  wax.  The  third  is  porce- 
lain of  dull  timbre  but  fine  texture,  covered  with  milk-white, 
opaque  glaze  of  remarkable  purity,  without  crackle.  Finally, 
there  is  egg-shell  porcelain,  softer  than  that  of  Hizen  or 
Owari,  and  further  distinguished  by  the  lustreless  aspect  of 
its  glaze.  It  would  be  misleading  to  lay  down  any  hard  and 
fast  rule  associating  special  fashions  of  decoration  with  these 
different  varieties  of  biscuit  and  glaze.  The  connoisseur 
will  generally  find,  however,  that  the  fate  of  the  Ao-Kutani 
is  stone-ware  or  semi-porcelain. 

A theory  credited  by  some  amateurs  is  that  Gorodayu 
Shonzui,  after  his  return  from  China  (1515),  settled  at  Kutani, 
and  there  manufactured  enamelled  porcelain.  .There  is  no 
foundation  for  this  idea  except  the  recent  discovery  of  a plate 
of  old  Kutani  ware  bearing  Shonzui's  mark.  Very  ample 
credulity  is  needed  to  draw  from  evidence  so  slender  and 
deceptive  a conclusion  entirely  at  variance  with  fairly  well 
authenticated  annals.  It  ought  to  be  mentioned  that  the 
Kutani  experts  of  early  days  are  credited  with  a monopoly 
of  skill  in  preparing  and  applying  a dead-leaf  or  chocolate- 
brown  glaze  of  much  depth  and  softness.  It  was  copied  from 
Chinese  pieces,  but  the  merit  of  reproducing  it  in  Japan  be- 
longs to  the  Kutani  factory. 

The  popularity  enjoyed  by  the  early  Kaga  ware  was 
deservedly  great,  but  owing  to  some  unrecorded  cause 
the  manufacture  did  not  long  continue.  It  must  be 
confessed,  indeed,  that  very  little  is  known  about  the 
story  of  the  potteries  until  comparatively  recent  times. 
No  names  of  experts  have  been  handed  down  by  tra- 
dition, nor  do  the  marks  upon  specimens  offer  infor- 
mation of  this  character.  That  ware  of  such  technical 
excellence  and  artistic  beauty  should  have  failed  to 
find  a market  is  scarcely  credible.  The  probable  ex- 
planation of  the  early  factory’s  short  life,  the  explana- 
tion given  by  Japanese  experts,  is  that  the  productions 

244 


WARES  OF  KAGA 

of  the  Kutani  pottery,  like  those  of  Okawachi  (Na- 
beshima,  in  Hizen),  were  officially  limited.  The 
workmen,  forbidden  to  dispose  of  their  wares  without 
permission,  depended  on  the  patronage  of  their  feudal 
chief  and  his  officers,  and  losing  that  patronage  — for 
presumably  they  did  lose  it  — had  no  choice  but 
to  abandon  their  trade.  Another  reason  is  that  under 
feudal  rulers  intercourse  between  the  people  of  Kaga 
province  and  those  of  other  fiefs  was  exceptionally 
restricted.  Devout  Buddhists,  and  almost  fanatical 
in  their  allegiance  to  the  Monto  sect,  the  Kaga  folks 
had  shown  such  recklessness  in  their  contributions  to 
the  support  of  that  sect’s  great  monasteries  in  Kyoto, 
that  their  lord  deemed  it  prudent  to  interdict  all  ex- 
port of  merchandise,  goods,  chattels,  or  specie  from 
the  fief,  except  under  official  supervision.  Such 
an  embargo  was  not  unlikely  to  check  the  develop- 
ment of  the  keramic  art.  At  any  rate,  it  was  checked. 
Some  seventy  or  eighty  years  after  Goto  Saijiro’s  return 
from  Arita,  the  Kutani  factory  practically  ceased  to  be 
active,  and  by  1750  the  production  of  the  beautiful 
specimens  described  above  had  almost,  if  not  entirely,* 
ceased.  The  potter’s  industry  did  not,  indeed,  thence- 
forth become  extinct  in  the  province,  but  its  products 
were  of  a common,  unattractive  type. 

Things  remained  thus  until  1779,  when  a man 
called  Honda  Teikichi,  a native  of  Hizen,  came  to 
Kanazawa,  the  chief  town  of  Kaga.  This  Honda  was 
an  expert  potter  and  had  worked  for  a long  time  at 
the  Arita  factories.  Falling  under  the  displeasure  of 
the  local  authorities,  he  was  obliged  to  fly  from  his 
home,  and  after  wandering  through  various  parts  of 
the  Empire,  he  found  refuge  in  the  house  of  a potter 
of  Kasuga-yama,  in  Kaga.  Shortly  afterwards,  he 

245 


JAPAN 

moved  to  Wakasugi,  in  the  Nomi  district  (Nomi-gori) 
of  the  same  province,  and  there  became  the  guest  of 
Hayashi  Hachibei,  the  head-man  of  the  village.  It 
was  in  the  neighbouring  district  of  Enuma  that  the 
Kutani  factory  stood : the  Nomi  district  did  not  yet 
possess  a kiln,  and  was  supposed  to  be  without  keramic 
materials.  Honda  Teikichi  proved  that  this  supposi- 
tion was  erroneous.  He  discovered  good  porcelain 
stone  at  a hill  called  Rokubei-yama,  near  Wakasugi. 
The  discovery  induced  Hayashi  Hachibei  to  open  a 
factory,  where,  under  Teikichfs  direction,  enamelled 
porcelain  was  produced.  The  artist  was  assisted  by 
three  other  experts  : Torakichi  of  Kyoto,  Heisuke  of 
Hirado,  and  Torakichi  of  Kumano.  These  four  men 
carried  on  the  manufacture  with  success.  They  did 
not,  however,  revive  the  methods  of  the  old  Kutani 
potters,  choosing  rather  a style  of  decoration  that  re- 
sembled that  of  Imari  but  was  less  brilliant.  To  pre- 
pare and  apply  the  beautiful  enamels  of  the  Ao-Kutani 
would  evidently  have  overtaxed  their  ability.  Teiki- 
chi died  in  1819,  having  worked  at  Wakasugi  for 
forty  years.  He  left  two  sons,  Seibei  and  Eikichi, 
who  are  said  to  have  been  expert  potters.  But  in 
1822  Hayashi  Hachibei,  the  patron  and  capitalist  of 
the  factory,  finding  that  the  enterprise  had  ceased  to 
be  profitable,  abandoned  it.  Ten  years  later  (1832),  a 
citizen  of  Kanazawa,  by  name  Hashimoto  Yasubei, 
re-opened  the  factory  and  placed  it  under  the  direc- 
tion of  three  potters,  Hachibei,  Kyubei,  and  Chojiro, 
who  had  been  pupils  of  Teikichi.  This  revival  was 
encouraged  by  the  patronage  of  Maeda,  ex-Daimyo 
of  Kaga.  In  1837  the  industry  received  a further 
impulse  through  the  discovery  — by  Hachibei  — of 
porcelain  stone  at  Niiyama,  and  pottery  clay  at  Hachi- 

246 


WARES  OF  KAGA 

maita,  in  the  district  of  Hanasaka.  Among  the  deco- 
rators who  had  worked  in  the  former  factory  and 
whose  services  were  retained  by  Hashimoto,  was  an 
artist  of  Kyoto,  named  Yujiro,  whose  success  in  using 
enamels  after  the  Imari  style  obtained  for  him  the 
sobriquet  of  Akae-Tujiro  [aka-e  signifies  painting  with 
coloured  enamels).  In  1838,  owing  to  conflagration, 
the  factory  was  removed  to  Tsuchi-yama,  in  the  same 
district.  Seven  years  previously  (1830),  another  fac- 
tory had  been  established  in  the  neighbourhood  (at 
Ono-mura),  by  a farmer  called  Yabu  Rokuemon,  who 
engaged  two  of  Teikichi’s  former  pupils,  Chosuke  and 
Gihei,  to  carry  on  the  potter’s  work,  and  Kutani  Shozo, 
Saida  Dokan,  and  Kitaichya  Heikichi  as  decorators. 
They  used  materials  found  at  Gokokuji,  at  Nabedani, 
and  at  Sano,  all  in  the  immediate  vicinity.  Rokuemon 
conducted  thiS' enterprise  until  1850,  when  he  trans- 
ferred the  factory  to  one  Zendayu,  who  managed  the 
sale  of  its  productions  until  i860. 

In  1824  Yujiro  (mentioned  above)  had  among  his 
pupils  two  artisans,  Ishida  Heikichi  and  Kawashiri 
Shichibei,  who  are  credited  with  having  transmitted 
and  improved  his  methods.  A few  years  later  (1830) 
two  other  potters  attract  attention.  These  are  Mat- 
sumoto  Kikusaburo  and  Awaya  Genemon.  The 
former  appears  to  have  undergone  a very  extensive 
training,  having  been  the  pupil  successively  of  Saida 
Isaburo  (otherwise  called  Dokai),  a potter  of  Sano  (in 
the  Nomi  district)  ; of  Kozaka  Shirobei,  an  expert  of 
Yoshikawa  (in  the  same  province)  ; of  Jozan,  director 
of  the  Sanda  factory  (in  Sesshu) ; and  of  Shuhei, 
a well-known  Kyoto  potter.  Returning  to  Kaga 
from  his  last  apprenticeship  in  Kyoto,  he  settled  at 
Komatsu,  and  there  worked  for  many  years,  in  part- 

247 


JAPAN 

nership  with  Awaya  Genemon  and  Sumiya  Sakubei, 
to  revive  the  methods  of  the  old  Ao-Kutani  porcelain. 
The  factory  where  these  experiments  were  carried  on, 
at  Rendaiji  (in  the  Nomi  district)  was  under  Gene- 
mon’s  direction.  From  1843  1850  Kikusaburo, 

Genemon,  and  Sakubei  worked  there ; after  which 
they  opened  another  kiln  at  the  neighbouring  village 
of  Motoe,  and  continued  the  same  style  of  manufac- 
ture for  three  years  longer.  Matsumoto  Kikusaburo 
then  settled  finally  at  Komatsu,  and  in  1867  handed 
his  business  over  to  his  son  Matsumoto  Sahei.  Re- 
ferring to  what  has  been  said  above,  it  will  be  seen 
that  in  1830  a factory  was  established  at  Ono-mura  by 
Yabu  Rokuemon.  Here,  for  the  first  time  in  Kaga, 
a kiln  was  built  of  the  shape  known  as  nabori-gama ; 
that  is  to  say,  a number  of  vaulted  chambers  arranged, 
one  above  the  other,  on  an  inclined  plane.  This  form 
of  furnace  was  more  economical  for  stoving  small 
pieces  than  the  round  kiln  {maru-gama^  previously 
employed.  Its  superior  facilities,  the  patronage  of 
the  local  authorities,  and  the  enterprise  of  the  potters 
brought  about  a marked  development  of  keramic  in- 
dustry in  the  Nomi  district.  Between  1854  and 
18^9,  when  this  impulse  was  at  its  height,  there  were 
factories  at  seven  places  — Wakasugi-mura,  Yawata- 
mura,  Ono-mura,  Sano-mura,  Yutani-mura,  Wake- 
mura,  and  Tokuyama-mura  — each  possessing  a 
nobori-gama  of  from  five  to  twelve  compartments,  and 
the  whole  giving  employment  to  over  two  hundred 
artisans. 

Extracting  salient  facts  from  these  somewhat  con- 
fusing details,  it  appears  that,  after  an  interval  of  about 
thirty  years’  cessation,  the  keramic  industry  of  Kaga 
was  revived  (1779)  in  the  N5mi  district,  by  a fugitive 

248 


WARES  OF  KAGA 

potter  (Honda  Teikichi)  of  Hizen,  who  had  the  as- 
sistance of  artists  from  Hirado,  Kyoto,  and  elsewhere  ; 
that  the  wares  produced  were  of  the  Arita  rather 
than  the  Kutani  fashion;  that  in  1843  manu- 
facture of  the  beautiful  Ao-Kutani  ware  was  success- 
fully recommenced,  chiefly  through  the  exertions  of 
an  artist  called  Matsumoto  Kikusaburo ; that  the  in- 
dustry grew  in  Nomori-gori  until  (1855)  there  were 
seven  factories  employing  two  hundred  artisans ; and 
that  the  materials  used  were  found  at  Gokokuji,  Na- 
bedani,  Sano-mura,  Ono-mura,  and  elsewhere. 

Before  speaking  of  the  qualities  of  the  wares  pro- 
duced in  the  Nomi  district,  it  is  necessary  to  turn,  for 
a moment  to  the  Enuma  district,  where,  as  explained 
above,  the  original  Kutani-yaki  was  manufactured. 
Here  the  revival  of  the  industry  did  not  take  place 
until  1809,  when  Yoshida  Denemon,  a merchant  of 
Daishdji,  established  a factory  at  Kutani.  Two  years 
later,  with  a view  to  greater  facilities  of  access,  the 
factory  was  removed  to  Yamashiro-mura,  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  Daishoji.  Kutani  porcelain  stone,  from 
Dainichi-yama,  was  employed,  and  the  decorative 
methods  of  the  old  Ao-Kutani — green,  purple,  blue, 
and  yellow  enamels  — were  followed  as  closely  as  pos- 
sible. The  ware  thus  produced  was  commonly  called 
Toshida-yaki,  Associated  with  Yoshida  was  an  expert 
called  Myamoto  Uemon.  These  two  men  continued 
to  work  with  success  until  1840,  when  Uemon  was 
succeeded  by  his  son  Riemon.  About  this  time  the 
factory  obtained  the  services  of  an  artist  called  lida 
Hachiroemon,  who  effected  a marked  change  in  the 
decorative  fashion  of  the  ware  by  introducing  a style 
known  as  Akaji-kinga,  or  gold  designs  on  a red 
ground.  It  was  not  an  original  idea.  The  Chinese 

249 


JAPAN 

potters  of  the  Yung-lo  era  (1403-1424)  and  their  suc- 
cessors had  manufactured  very  beautiful  specimens  of 
this  nature.  Tradition  says,  indeed,  that  lida  Hichi- 
roemon  owed  his  conception  to  a piece  of  Chinese 
porcelain  which  he  saw  among  the  heirlooms  of  a 
neighbouring  temple.  Other  authorities  connect  his 
methods  with  the  work  of  the  great  Kyoto  keramist, 
Eiraku  Zengoro,  whose  red-and-gold  porcelain  had 
been  famous  for  several  years  before  Hachiroemon’s 
time.  It  has  also  been  shown  above  that  the  idea  of 
a red  ground  for  designs  in  gold,  silver,  and  coloured 
enamels  was  familiar  to  the  original  Kutani  potters. 
The  distinguishing  feature  of  the  style  attributed  to 
Hachiroemon,  however,  was  that  his  decoration  (on 
a red  ground)  was  traced  with  gold  alone,  and  there 
is  no  doubt  that  he  was  the  first  to  introduce  this 
style  at  the  Kutani  factory,  though  in  Kyoto  it  was 
tolerably  familiar.  It  became  very  popular.  Pieces 
decorated  with  the  Hachiro-e  (pictures  by  Hachiroe- 
mon) found  a ready  sale,  and  their  manufacture  was 
continued  on  a considerable  scale  for  about  twenty 
years. 

Again  summarising,  it  appears  that,  although  the 
reproduction  of  the  Ao-Kutani  ware  did  not  com- 
mence in  the  Nomi  district  of  Kaga  until  1843,  it 
dated  from  1809  in  the  Enuma  district.  From  1779, 
therefore,  until  about  1865,  the  keramic  manufactures 
of  the  province  of  Kaga  were  of  three  varieties  in 
respect  of  decoration.  There  was,  first,  the  ware  of 
Honda  Teikichi  and  his  successors,  produced  at 
Wakasugi,  in  the  Nomi  district;  there  was,  secondly, 
the  Ko-Kutani  ware,  produced  from  1790  till  1865  at 
the  Kutani  factory,  and  from  1843  till  1865  at  Waka- 
sugi, and  there  was  finally  the  gold-and-red  ware  of 

250 


WARES  OF  KAGA 

the  Hachiroemon  kiln,  dating  from  i 840.  With  re- 
gard to  the  first,  it  varied  in  quality  from  dense,  some- 
what coarse  pate  — almost  stone-ware  — to  thin  and 
line,  but  soft  porcelain.  The  decoration  bore  a close 
resemblance  to  that  of  Arita  enamelled  ware,  but 
there  were  less  massing  of  colours  and  a freer  use  of 
scroll  patterns  and  diapers  in  principal  positions : gold 
was  sparsely  employed,  and  the  general  effect  was  sub- 
dued. With  regard  to  the  second,  the  revived  Ko-Ku~ 
taniy  its  pate  was  soft,  heavy  stone-ware,  having  a dull 
timbre.  The  glazes,  green,  purple,  blue,  and  yellow, 
were  lustrous  and  pure,  but  not  so  rich  as  those  of  the 
old  Ao-Kutani,  Finally,  the  fashion  of  running  these 
glazes  over  designs  — diapers,  arabesques,  floral  scrolls, 
and  sometimes  landscapes  — traced  in  black,  was  emi- 
nently characteristic  of  the  time.  Specimens  of  this 
middle-period  Ao-Kutani  are  tolerably  easy  to  procure. 
They  do  duty  with  bric-a-brac  vendors  for  ‘‘  Old  Ku- 
tani,”  from  which,  however,  they  are  readily  dis- 
tinguishable by  the  greater  softness  of  their  pate,  the 
inferior  richness  of  their  enamels,  the  greyish  tone  of 
their  glaze,  and  the  comparatively  thin,  crude  appear- 
ance of  their  red  pigment.  With  regard  to  the  third 
variety  — the  Hachiroe  ware  — it  was  of  two  kinds, 
porcelain  and  faience.  The  distinguishing  feature  of 
its  decoration  was  the  free  use  of  red  and  gold.  In 
some  part  of  the  design  red  was  nearly  always  em- 
ployed as  a ground  for  floral  scrolls  or  conventional 
patterns  in  gold.  The  faience,  or  semi-stone  ware, 
of  this  period  was  covered  with  an  opaque  glaze  of 
warm,  ivory-like  tint,  and  soft,  grey  appearance,  show- 
ing accidental  crackle.  No  similar  glaze  is  to  be 
found  on  any  other  ware  of  Japan.  The  decoration 
was  more  florid  and  elaborate  than  anything  seen  on 

251 


JAPAN 

old  Kutani-yaki^  though  in  this  respect  it  still  fell 
considerably  short  of  the  miniature  painting  of  the 
modern  school. 

Hachiroemon  died  in  1849.  Nine  years  later 
(1858),  the  two  sons  of  the  celebrated  Kyoto  keram^ 
ist  Zengoro  Hozen — commonly  called  Eiraku  — 
together  with  another  Kyoto  artist,  Ohashi  Rakusen, 
were  invited  to  Kaga  by  Maeda,  chief  of  the  fief. 
Of  the  two  brothers  one,  Zengoro  Wazen,  remained 
six  years  at  Kutani,  and  assisted  in  developing  the 
decorative  fashion  — gold  designs  on  a red  ground  — 
for  which  his  father  had  been  so  famous.  The  differ- 
ence between  Wazen’s  style  and  Hachiroemon’s  was 
that  in  the  former  the  whole  piece  — except,  perhaps, 
the  inner  surface,  where  designs  in  blue  sous  couverte 
occasionally  appear  — was  covered  with  red,  serving 
as  a ground  for  conventional  patterns  in  gold  ; whereas 
in  Hachiroemon’s  ware  red  was  used  for  purposes  of 
delineation  quite  as  much  as  for  a ground  colour. 
Further,  Wazen’s  red  may  be  distinguished  from 
Hachiroemon’s  by  its  greater  body,  yet  lighter,  coral- 
like tone.  Pieces  manufactured  by  Wazen,  or  under 
his  directions,  at  Kutani  are  generally  marked  Kutani 
ni  oite  'Eiraku  tsukuru^  which  signifies,  ‘‘  Made  by 
Eiraku  at  Kutani.'’ 

During  the  troublous  years  immediately  preceding 
and  following  the  abolition  of  the  feudal  system,  that 
is  to  say,  from  about  1863  to  1869,  the  keramic  in- 
dustry of  Kaga  did  not  escape  the  general  commercial 
depression.  The  factories  in  both  the  Enuma  and 
Nomi  districts  were  either  closed  or  kept  open  for  the 
production  of  common  utensils  only.  At  this  junc- 
ture an  amateur  of  considerable  means,  Abe  Omi,  set 
himself  resolutely  to  work  to  revive  the  decaying 

252 


WARES  OF  KAGA 

industry.  In  1868  he  caused  a kiln  to  be  erected 
within  the  enclosure  of  the  ex-feudal  chief’s  park, 
and  engaged  all  the  best-known  potters  of  the  district. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  recount  the  vicissitudes  that  over- 
took this  enterprise.  It  cost  its  projector  thirty 
thousand  dollars,  and  reduced  him  to  a position  of  ex- 
ceedingly straitened  means.  But  the  benefit  conferred 
on  the  keramic  art  by  his  exertions  and  sacrifices  was 
very  great.  There  are  now  (1885)  upwards  of  2,700 
persons  engaged,  either  technically  or  commercially,  in 
the  industry  in  Kaga  province.  Among  them  are  280 
painters  whose  pupils  number  520.  Frequent  efforts 
have  been  made  by  the  authorities  to  improve  the 
standard  of  the  art,  and  large  quantities  of  the  ware 
are  exported  every  year.  There  is  a Pottery  Associ- 
ation to  which  the  principal  manufacturers  belong, 
and  there  is  also  a Society  of  Experts  who  watch  the 
work  and  keep  the  potters  supplied  with  good  designs. 
Kaga  porcelain  has  thus  been  brought  into  consider- 
able favour.  Table  services  of  all  kinds  for  Western 
use  are  produced  in  great  numbers.  They  are  porce- 
lain of  fair  quality,  and  their  invariable  decoration  'is 
of  the  red-and-gold  type.  Medallions  of  various 
shapes  enclose  landscapes,  floral  compositions,  figures 
or  mythical  animals,  and  are  themselves  surrounded 
by  a red  ground  with  golden  designs  traced  on  it. 
The  execution  is  often  of  a very  high  character,  — 
miniature  painting  which  for  delicacy  and  accuracy 
leaves  nothing  to  be  desired.  Especially  is  this  true 
of  pieces  having  a multitude  of  tiny  figures  in  gold 
depicted  with  microscopic  fidelity  on  a solid  red 
ground.  But  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  fashion 
lacks  variety.  One  wearies  of  a perpetual  glitter  of 
gilding  and  massing  of  red  pigment,  more  especially 

253 


JAPAN 

as  the  latter,  in  point  of  tone  and  richness,  does  not 
commend  itself  to  refined  taste.  The  potters  them- 
selves, appreciating  the  consequences  of  this  monotony, 
have  made  resolute  efforts,  of  late  years,  to  revive  the 
incomparably  richer  and  more  varied  methods  of  the 
old  Ao-Kutani.  In  this  enterprise  a leading  part  has 
been  played  by  Takenouchi  Kinshu,  — called  also 
Gaikyo,  or  Yusetsusai,  — a man  of  gentle  birth,  who, 
having  studied  keramics  under  the  potters  Okura  and 
Tsukatani,  of  Kutani,  has  succeeded,  after  years  of 
experiment  and  innumerable  failures,  in  reproduc- 
ing the  beautiful  green,  yellow,  purple,  and  blue 
vitreous  glazes  of  former  times.  Matsumoto  Sahei, 
of  Wakasugi,  has  also  contributed  materially  to  the 
success  of  this  revival,  and  is  further  distinguished 
by  the  beauty  of  his  designs,  many  of  which  are 
taken  from  the  works  of  celebrated  pictorial  artists. 
Other  keramists  of  note  who  have  flourished  since 
the  abolition  of  feudalism  are  Ishida  Heizo,  Mifuji 
Bunzo,  Fujikata  Yasojo,  Tsukuya  Sen  (called  also 
Chikuzen),  Okura  Seishichi  (called  also  Juraku), 
Asukai  Kyoshi,  Kawashiri  Kahei,  Matsubara  Shin- 
suke,  Wakafuji  Genjiro,  Hashimoto  Hachibei,  and 
Nakagawa  Genzaemon.  The  decorators  form  a sepa- 
rate school. 

In  former  times  the  potters  of  Kutani  did  not  use 
their  own  names  to  mark  their  pieces.  Sometimes 
they  put  the  name  of  the  factory  (Kutani);  but  in  the 
majority  of  cases  they  employed  simply  the  ideograph 
fuku^'  or  “ good  fortune.’’  The  use  of  names  for 
this  purpose  is  comparatively  recent : it  does  not  date 
farther  back  than  1850,  and  is  confined,  for  the  most 
part,  to  elaborately  decorated  pieces  of  the  red-and- 
gold  type.  The  names  are  not  stamped : they  are 

254 


WARES  OF  KAGA 

written  sometimes  in  gold,  sometimes  in  red  or  black, 
and  occasionally  green  enamel  is  run  over  the  writ- 
ing. They  are  the  names  of  decorators,  not  of 
potters. 

In  addition  to  the  wares  mentioned  above  there  was 
produced  in  the  province  of  Kaga  a faience  called 
Ohi-yaki,  It  was  of  the  Raku  type.  The  factory 
stood  in  Ohi-machi,  Kanazawa  (the  capital  of  Kaga), 
and  its  founder  was  Haji  Chozaemon.  This  man 
came  of  a very  ancient  family  of  potters.  He  was 
twenty-eighth  in  descent  from  Naga-mitsu  Michiyasu, 
a retainer  of  the  Emperor  Kammu  (782-805  a.  d.), 
and  twentieth  in  descent  from  Nagamitsu  Yasutoshi, 
who,  following  the  celebrated  statesman  Michizane 
into  exile  (905  a.  d.),  settled  in  the  province  of 
Kawachi,  at  the  village  of  Haji,  so  called  because  it 
was  inhabited  chiefly  by  potters.  Nagamitsu,  being 
without  resources,  adopted  the  potter’s  trade  and 
changed  his  family  name  to  Haji  (abbreviation  of 
hani-shi,  an  ancient  term  for  ‘‘potter”).  His  de- 
scendants continued  to  earn  a livelihood  by  the  manu- 
facture of  unglazed  pottery,  until  the  time  of  Haji 
Chozaemon,  who  in  the  year  1657  visited  Kyoto,  and 
learned  the  art  of  making  Raku  faience.  Nine  years 
later  (1666)  he  was  summoned  to  Kaga  by  Prince 
Maeda  Saisho,  and  there,  building  a kiln  in  Ohi-machi, 
manufactured  tea-utensils  after  designs  furnished  by  the 
Chajin  Senno  Soshitsu.  The  Ohi  ware,  as  it  was  then, 
and  as  it  remained  with  very  little  change  until  recent 
times,  need  not  occupy  much  attention.  A faience 
with  reddish  brown,  somewhat  coarse  pate^  consider- 
ably heavier  than  the  Raku-yaki  of  Kyoto,  it  only  be- 
came interesting  from  an  artistic  point  of  view  when 
used  in  the  manufacture  of  figures,  — deities,  Rishi, 

^SS 


JAPAN 

or  mythical  animals,  — some  of  which  were  modelled 
with  boldness  and  skill.  The  glaze  was  semi-trans- 
parent, its  colour  varying  from  peculiar  brownish 
amber  (called  by  the  Japanese  ame-gusuri^  or  bean- 
jelly  glaze),  to  dull  black.  The  clays  principally  used 
for  its  manufacture  were  found  at  Kasuga-yama  and 
Hokoji-mura,  in  Kaga,  and  to  these  was  added  a 
white  earth  procured  from  the  province  of  Etchu. 
Haji  Chozaemon  changed  his  family  name  to  “ Ohi.’' 
The  manufacture  inaugurated  by  him  was  carried  on 
by  his  descendants  through  six  generations  until  the 
present  time.  The  genealogy  of  the  family  runs 
thus : — 

1.  Hagi  Chozaemon;  came  from  Kyoto  in  1666,  and 

settling  in  Ohi-machi,  changed  his  family  name 
to  “ Ohi.** 

2.  Ohi  Chozaemon  ; enjoyed  the  patronage  of  two  suc- 

cessive chiefs  of  Kaga,  Yoshitoshi  and  Munetatsu. 

3.  Ohi  Kambei;  died  1802. 

4.  Ohi  Kambei;  had  the  honour  of  making  pottery  in 

the  presence  of  the  Kaga  chief,  1785,  who  con- 
ferred on  him  a pension  of  two  rations  of  rice  in 
perpetuity.  In  1822  he  was  further  rewarded 
with  500  me  (4^^  lbs.)  of  silver.  The  following 
year  he  manufactured  a Shishi  (mythical  lion)  six 
feet  high,  and  presented  it  to  the  chief,  who 
ordered  him  to  receive  five  gold  Oban  (about 
$150),  and  gave  to  each  of  the  twenty-three 
coolies  who  carried  the  lion  two  hundred  pieces 
of  copper.  Kambei  died,  1839. 

5.  Ohi  Kambei;  received,  in  1828,  a grant  of  sixty 

tsubo  (i  tsubo  = 2^  square  feet)  of  land  for  the 
purposes  of  his  factory.  He  received  a special 
commission  to  manufacture  pottery  for  use  at  the 
city  mansion  of  the  Kaga  family  (Hongo,  Yedo)  on 
the  occasion  of  the  reception  of  the  Tokugawa 
Shogun^  lenari,  and  was  handsomely  rewarded. 


WARES  OF  KAGA 

He  was  further  commissioned  to  supply  pottery 
every  new  year  for  use  in  the  mansions  of  the 
Kaga  family,  and  he  executed  various  special 
commissions  for  the  Kaga  princesses.  He  died 
in  1856. 

6.  Ohi  Sakutard ; continued  to  enjoy  the  special  patron- 

age of  the  Kaga  family. 

7.  Ohi  Michitada;  had  the  honour  of  being  admitted 

to  the  outer  audience  chamber  of  the  Kaga 
mansion,  and  received  various  rewards  from  the 
Kaga  family.  He  abandoned  the  potter’s  trade  ' 
in  1869,  after  the  fall  of  the  feudal  system,  but 
resumed  it  in  1885,  establishing  his  kiln  at 
Kasugamachi. 

Here,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Raku-yaki  of  Kyoto,  it 
is  necessary  to  caution  the  reader  against  basing  any 
extravagant  idea  of  the  Ohi  faience  on  the  compara- 
tive accuracy  of  its  records.  Whenever  in  Japan  any 
branch  of  industry  has  been  the  specialty  of  one  family, 
it  is  always  easy  to  compile  such  a table  as  the  above. 
The  Ohi-yaki  was,  in  truth,  an  unattractive  faience, 
only  redeemed  from  utter  homeliness  by  the  occa- 
sional skill  of  its  modellers  and  the  peculiar  amber- 
like colour  and  transparency  of  its  glaze.  Its  annals 
are  interesting,  however,  as  showing  the  intimate 
nature  of  the  patronage  extended  by  families  of  feudal 
chiefs  in  Japan  to  the  artists  and  artisans  in  their  fiefs. 
The  articles  manufactured  by  the  Ohi  potters  in  for- 
mer days  were  chiefly  utensils  for  the  Cha-no-Tu. 
These  are  still  highly  valued  by  Japanese  connoisseurs. 
In  the  majority  of  cases  the  mark  of  the  factory  [Ohi^ 
is  stamped  in  the  pate. 

During  the  present  century  Raku  ware  after  the 
fashion  of  the  Ohi-yaki  has  been  manufactured  by  two 
families  of  Kaga  potters  besides  that  of  Haji  Chozae- 

VOL.  VIII. 17  257 


JAPAN 

mon.  They  are  the  family  of  Kato  Nagatoshi,  who 
established  a kiln  in  Yamano-ue-machi,  Kanazawa, 
1856,  and  employed  clays  obtained  at  Hokoji-mura, 
Yamano-ue-mura,  Dangi-mura,  and  Ono-mura  in  the 
Nomi  district  of  Kaga ; and  the  family  of  Hara  Yo- 
sobei  (called  also  Gozan),  a Cha-jiriy  who,  in  1862, 
built  a kiln  at  Uguisu-dani,  and  produced  ware  that 
has  been  compared  to  the  yellow  Chien-yao  (vide 
Chten-yao^  of  China.  He  employed  clays  from  Ara- 
tani-mura,  Nabetani-mura,  Sano-mura,  Utsu-yama,  and 
Yamada-mura  (all  in  Kaga),  from  Shigaraki,  in  Omi, 
and  from  Awata,  in  Kyoto. 

One  other  ware  produced  in  the  province  of  Kaga 
remains  to  be  mentioned : a faience  of  great  beauty, 
popularly  but  erroneously  known  as  Ohi-yaki.  The 
pate  is  of  the  Kaku  type,  — soft  with  a peculiarly  dull 
timbre.  The  glaze  is  cream  white,  waxy,  opaque, 
showing  subdued  lustre  and  finely  crackled.  But  the 
charm  of  the  ware  lies  in  the  enamelled  decoration. 
It  is  difficult  to  conceive  anything  more  admirable, 
from  a technical  point  of  view,  than  the  manner  in 
which  the  decoration  is  executed.  The  enamels, 
pure  and  lustrous,  green,  blue,  yellow,  purple,  and  red, 
are  used  with  all  the  facility  of  ordinary  pigments  to 
depict  landscapes,  floral  subjects,  birds,  diapers,  scrolls, 
and  so  forth,  with  microscopic  accuracy  and  charm- 
ing taste.  Only  in  some  of  the  choicest  specimens  of 
Kyoto  faience,  masterpieces  by  Eiraku,  Shuhei,  and 
their  peers,  can  work  be  found  of  such  infinite  deli- 
cacy. The  Kaga  faience  is  further  distinguished  by 
metallic  reflection  ; but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  with- 
out the  exquisite  softness  of  the  Kyoto  glaze.  The 
originator  of  this  beautiful  ware  was  Kurin-ya  Gem- 
bei,  who  constructed  a kiln  for  the  manufacture  of 

258 


WARES  OF  KAGA 

Raku  faience,  in  Edamachi,  Kanazawa,  in  1827.  It 
is  to  Gembei’s  son,  Awaya  Genemon,  however,  that 
the  credit  belongs  of  bringing  the  manufacture  to  its 
highest  point  of  excellence.  This  expert's  name  has 
already  been  mentioned.  To  him,  working  in  con- 
junction with  Matsumoto  Kikusaburo  at  the  Rendaiji 
factory,  is  due  the  revival  of  the  Ao-kutani  ware  in  the 
Nomi  district  of  Kaga.  Simultaneously  he  carried  on 
the  manufacture  of  enamelled  Raku  faience  — essen- 
tially a domestic  industry  — at  his  house  in  Edamachi. 
He  flourished  from  1843  1865,  and  left  behind 

him  some  specimens  which  are  now  eagerly  sought 
by  connoisseurs.  Genemon's  mastery  of  the  technique 
of  his  craft  seems  to  have  been  very  remarkable.  He 
was  noted  for  his  extraordinary  success  as  a potter  of 
ro-huchiy  — square  frames  used  at  Tea  Ceremonials  to 
form  lips  for  fire-boxes.  To  produce  faience  of  such 
a shape  with  mathematical  accuracy  was  a feat  quite 
beyond  the  strength  of  any  but  the  most  dextrous  ke- 
ramist.  His  skill  as  a decorator  combined  with  his 
remarkable  mastery  of  keramic  processes  may  be  seen 
to  greatest  advantage  in  faience  writing-boxes  (suzuri- 
bako)  and  writing-desks  [kendat\  which  are  as  true  and 
accurate  as  joiner's  work.  Genemon  was  succeeded 
by  his  son  Aoki  Eigoro,  who,  though  not  without 
skill,  could  not  emulate  his  father's  achievements. 
The  manufacture,  temporarily  abandoned  in  1862, 
was  recently  resumed.  Eigoro  now  confines  himself 
to  decorative  work.  He  is  successful  in  the  prepara- 
tion and  use  of  enamels,  but  the  ware  itself,  being  no 
longer  a family  specialty,  falls  palpably  below  the 
quality  of  the  earlier  faience. 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  mention  that  the  term 
Kaga-yaki  (ware  of  Kaga)  has,  of  late  years,  come  to 

259 


JAPAN 

signify  the  red-and-gold  porcelain  of  the  province,  as 
distinguished  from  the  enamelled  ware  of  Kutani. 
The  distinction  is  purely  capricious.  All  the  varieties 
described  above,  whether  porcelain  or  pottery,  are 
properly  included  in  the  name  Kaga-yaki, 


Chapter  VI 

WARES  OF  OWARI,  OR  BISHIU, 
AND  MINO 

POTTERY 

The  province  of  Owari,  or  Bishiu,  now  in- 
cluded in  Aichi  Prefecture,  is  full  of  interest 
for  the  student,  whether  for  the  sake  of  its 
association  with  the  name  of  Kato  Shirozae- 
mon  (commonly  called  Toshiro),  or  because  its  manu- 
factures were  sufficiently  pre-eminent  to  become  a 
synonym  — Seto-mono  — for  all  keramic  productions 
in  Japan.  It  has  already  been  related  how  Shirozae- 
mon  visited  China  in  1223,  and  what  improved  pro- 
cesses he  there  acquired.  The  pieces  he  is  said  to 
have  previously  produced  did  not  possess  one  redeem- 
ing feature,  nor  need  they  be  cited  except  as  illustra- 
tions of  the  very  small  progress  Japan  had  made  in 
keramics  up  to  that  time.  They  were  thick,  clumsily 
shaped,  and  unglazed  at  the  orifice,  so  that  even  the 
Japanese  C ha-jin,  who  treasures  them  to-day  with 
enthusiasm,  is  at  a loss  to  point  out  any  merit  justify- 
ing his  affection.  Among  these  specimens  of  ‘‘  Ko- 
seto'^  (old  Seto),  as  they  are  called  — though  Kato 
Shirozaemon  never  worked  at  Seto  until  after  his 
return  from  China  — a curious  example  of  the  ficti- 
tious value  attached  by  subsequent  generations  to  the 
great  master’s  handiwork  is  seen  in  the  variety 
“ Hori-dashi-te*'  or  ‘‘  dug-out  ware.”  It  consists  of 

261 


JAPAN 

pieces  which,  having  been  rejected  from  time  to  time 
on  account  of  technical  defects  until  their  inconvenient 
accumulation  suggested  the  expedient  of  burying  them 
in  the  ground,  were  dug  out  two  or  three  centuries 
later  and  placed  among  the  treasures  of  the  tea-clubs, 
the  faults  that  originally  rendered  them  worthless 
several  hundred  years  being  subsequently  condoned 
for  the  sake  of  their  associations.  Before  his  visit  to 
China,  Toshiro’s  wares,  or,  to  speak  more  correctly, 
the  wares  of  his  time,  were  stoved  in  an  inverted 
position,  so  that  the  orifices  were  unglazed.  For  this 
reason  they  were  subsequently  called  Kuchi-hagi-de^  or 
bared  {hagi)  orifice  {kucht)  variety  (te).  Another  dis- 
tinguishing appellation  was  Atsu-de^  or  thick  variety, 
— a term  that  explains  itself.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
describe  these  productions  at  length.  They  were 
nothing  more  than  coarse  pottery,  made  of  iron-red 
clay,  covered  with  clumsily  applied  glaze,  sometimes 
black,  sometimes  brown,  sometimes  a reddish  grey, 
and  occasionally  having  a tinge  of  yellow. 

The  idea  that  pottery  was  manufactured  in  Owari 
by  Kato  Shirozaemon  before  his  visit  to  China,  to 
supposed  specimens  of  which  pottery  the  term  Koseto 
(old  Seto)  is  now  erroneously  applied,  is  one  of  those 
curious  myths  to  which  dilettanti  cling  in  the  face 
of  the  clearest  evidence  to  the  contrary.  Unfortu- 
nately, every  Japanese  tradition  about  the  keramic 
industry  is  prefaced  by  legends  that  carry  the  student 
back  to  the  prehistoric  days  of  this  ancient  Empire. 
Conservative  Japanese  confidently  regard  Jimmu  Ten- 
no,  who  is  supposed  to  have  reigned  more  than  twenty- 
five  hundred  years  ago,  as  the  first  purely  human 
sovereign  of  their  country,  and  since  history,  so  called, 
says  that  this  ruler  ordered  one  Shii-netsu-hiko  to 

262 


WARES  OF  OWARI  AND  M I N O 

manufacture  earthen  jars  for  sacrificial  purposes,  the  fact 
is  indisputably  established,  for  those  having  sufficient 
faith,  that  the  keramic  industry  existed  in  Japan  at  the 
end  of  the  age  of  the  god-kings.  Turning  to  a vener- 
able record  (the  Kyuji  Honki,)  there  is  found  a confi- 
dent statement  that  pottery  was  first  manufactured  by 
one  Osugi,  in  the  province  of  Kawachi,  whence  the 
industry  spread  to  Izumo,  Owari,  and  elsewhere ; and 
that  the  earliest  Superintendent  of  Keramics  was 
Izumo  no  Otodo,  whose  title  in  connection  with  this 
office  was  Haji-no-mura-ji,  and  whose  descent  could  be 
traced  to  one  of  the  divine  rulers.  These  circum- 
stances, and  others  scarcely  less  apocryphal,  are  always 
quoted  in  the  context  of  Owari  pottery,  after  which 
comes  information  that  an  official  of  high  rank  (^Sa6en- 
kan),  by  name  Choya  Gunsai,  visited  Owari  during 
the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Horikawa  (1087-1109), 
and  brought  back  with  him  to  Ky5t5  a quantity  of 
earthenware  vessels.  Specimens  said  to  be  as  old  as 
that  event  have  been  exhumed  in  the  province.  They 
are  hard,  well-fired  pottery,  showing  marks  of  the 
wheel,  and  having  no  glaze  except  where  a natural 
coating  of  vitreous  matter  has  been  produced  in  the 
furnace.  Such  ware  could  not  have  attracted  much 
attention,  and  it  is  not  surprising  to  learn  incidentally 
that  Owari’s  reputation  was  quite  unestablished  when 
Kato  Shirozaemon  returned  from  China. 

Kato,  whose  real  name  was  Fujiwara  Masakage, 
is  said  to  have  come  in  his  youth  to  Kyoto  from  his 
native  place  (Michikage-mura,  in  Yamato).  There 
he  became  a retainer  of  Kuga  Michichika  — one  of 
the  three  principal  Ministers  of  State — and  was  raised 
to  the  fifth  order  of  official  rank.  Tea-drinking  was 
then  becoming  a fashionable  pastime  among  the 

263 


JAPAN 

nobles  in  the  capital.  The  choice  utensils  used  by 
its  devotees  — the  Ting-yao,  Chun-yao,  "Ju-yao,  etc.,  of 
the  Sung  dynasty  — were  all  Chinese,  and  their  im- 
mense superiority  to  everything  produced  in  Japan 
was  palpable.  Masakage  conceived  the  ambition  of 
raising  the  keramic  art  of  his  country  to  a higher 
level.  He  resigned  his  official  position  and  built  a 
kiln  at  Fukakusa,  a village  about  five  miles  from 
Kyoto.  But  his  wares  proving  little  if  at  all  superior 
to  those  of  his  contemporaries,  he  determined  to  visit 
China  in  the  capacity  of  a student.  By  the  aid  of 
Doyen  (or  Dogen),  a Buddhist  priest  (second  son  of 
Masakage’s  lord,  Kuga  Michichika),  he  was  enabled 
to  accomplish  his  purpose.  Tradition  says  that  he 
travelled  from  one  to  another  of  the  great  Chinese 
keramic  centres,  and,  during  five  years’  study,  acquired 
a full  knowledge  of  the  processes  of  the  Middle  King- 
dom. If  so,  the  only  conclusion  is  that  his  ability  to 
utilise  this  knowledge  in  Japan  was  limited  by  lack 
of  materials.  From  China  he  brought  back  pottery 
earth  which  he  called  Sohoaki  (mother’s  bosom), 
doubtless  in  the  sense  that  the  development  of  his  art 
depended  upon  this  material,  though  a local  tradition 
says  that  the  term  was  applied  to  clay  found  in  Owari 
by  the  potter’s  mother  and  carried  home  in  the  bosom 
of  her  robe.  His  first  essay  after  his  return  was  made 
at  his  former  kiln  in  Fukakusa.  Three  tea-jars  potted 
there  with  Chinese  clay  were  entirely  successful. 
One  of  them  was  presented  to  the  Regent  Tokiyori; 
the  other  two  to  the  priest  Doyen,  who  bequeathed 
them  to  the  temple  Eiheiji,  where  they  are  still  pre- 
served. But  Japanese  material  proved  as  refractory 
as  ever.  . Kato  Shirozaemon  — as  Masakage  now 
called  himself — wandered  from  place  to  place  in 

264 


WARES  OF  OWARI  AND  MINO 

search  of  suitable  clay.  At  Sakai,  in  the  province  of 
Izumi ; at  various  places  in  the  Gokinai  (five  central 
provinces)  ; in  Omi,  where  the  much  employed  Shi- 
garaki  earth  was  afterwards  found ; and  at  Kuwana, 
in  Ise,  he  repeated  his  experiments.  The  idea  of 
trying  Owari  had  not  occurred  to  him.  So  far  from 
having  practised  the  keramic  art  there  before  his 
journey  to  China,  it  was  only  through  information 
accidentally  obtained  in  Ise  that  he  determined  to  visit 
the  province.  Even  then  his  first  essay,  made  at  Hant- 
suki-mura,  in  the  Chita  district  of  Owari,  was  a 
failure.  Ultimately  he  came  to  Seto,  and  there  at 
last  found  what  he  wanted.  It  is  said,  indeed,  that 
he  pronounced  the  Seto  earth  superior  to  the  Chinese 
Sobokai.  The  former  was  certainly  the  harder,  but 
in  closeness  of  grain  the  advantage  lay  with  the  latter. 
It  may  be  mentioned  here  that  among  tea-jars  used  in 
Japan  from  old  times,  not  a few  of  Chinese  manu- 
facture are  to  be  found.  They  can  generally  be 
recognised  at  once  by  the  nature  of  their  pate,  which 
not  only  is  so  fine  that  its  grain  is  scarcely  perceptible, 
but  also  has  a glistening  appearance  that  suggests  com- 
parison with  moist  mud. 

The  pottery  made  by  Kato  Shirozaemon  — or 
Toshiro,  as  he  soon  came  to  be  called  — was  far 
superior  to  any  Japanese  ware  that  had  preceded  it. 
He  produced  dainty  little  tea-jars  of  close,  fine  pdte^ 
excellently  manipulated.  The  thick,  clumsy  character 
of  former  specimens  disappeared  entirely.  His  pieces 
were  no  longer  stoved  in  an  inverted  position,  so  that 
their  edges,  instead  of  being  bare  and  fringed  with 
irregular  patches  of  glaze,  were  smooth  and  fairly 
finished.  His  glazes  were  lustrous  and  free  from 
discontinuities  and  irregularities.  Their  colours  were 

265 


JAPAN 

black,  amber  brown,  chocolate,  and  yellowish  grey. 
They  were  not  monochromatic,  but  showed  differ- 
ences of  tint,  and  sometimes  marked  varieties  of  colour, 
as  when  chocolate  brown  passed  into  amber,  or  black 
was  relieved  by  streaks  and  clouds  of  grey  and  dead- 
leaf  red. 

Very  soon  this  Toshiro-yaki  became  the  rage.  The 
feudal  barons,  who  had  adopted  the  fashion  set  by 
Yoritomo  of  rewarding  the  minor  services  of  their 
vassals  with  presents  of  powdered  tea,  then  a rare 
luxury,  chose  Toshiro’s  jars  to  contain  these  gifts, 
so  that  the  reputation  of  the  Seto  potter-  was  quickly 
established.  Connoisseurs  decided,  and  the  decision 
has  never  been  revoked,  that  his  best  pieces  were  those 
with  a purplish  pate;  his  second-best  those  with  a 
light-red  pate ; his  third-best  those  with  a grey  pate, 
and  that  the  p^te  of  the  least  valued  was  dark  red. 
Another  point  of  merit,  scarcely  appreciable  to  foreign 
eyes,  is  the  ito-giri,  or  trace  of  the  thread  used  to  cut 
off  the  superfluous  clay  at  the  bottom  of  the  piece 
before  removing  the  latter  from  the  wheel.  The 
spiral  thus  formed  is  supposed  to  afford  some  subtle 
indication  of  the  potter’s  skill. 

Toshiro’s  factory  was  known  as  Heishi-gama,  appar- 
ently because  the  experimental  pieces  first  potted  there 
were  heishi  (a  species  of  wine-jar).  Extravagantly 
refined  but  confused  distinctions  are  set  up  by  dilet- 
tanti with  regard  to  his  various  productions.  It  has 
been  shown  above  that  the  term  Ko-Seto  is  erroneously 
applied  to  Seto  ware  supposed  to  have  been  potted  by 
him  before  he  visited  China.  Other  connoisseurs  use 
the  same  term  to  designate  ware  manufactured  by 
him  with  Japanese  clay  after  his  return  from  China. 
Then,  again,  some  experts  give  the  name  ‘‘  Karamono  ” 

266 


WARES  OF  OWARI  AND  MINO 

or  Kambutsu  ” (Chinese  thing)  to  pieces  in  which 
they  profess  to  recognise  Toshiro’s  work  and  Chinese 
materials  ; while  others  call  this  variety  “ Tobutsu” 
a term  now  employed  in  the  sense  of  “ imported 
article.”  These  subtleties  belong  entirely  to  the 
region  of  Cha-no-Tu  romance. 

Toshiro  changed  his  name  in  after  life  to  Shun- 
kei,  and  the  pieces  he  then  manufactured  are  called 
‘‘  Shunkei-yaki”  They  are  accounted  his  chefs- 
a oeuvre. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  convey  to  the  reader  an  ad- 
equate impression  of  the  esteem  in  which  choice 
specimens  of  Tbshiro-yaki  are  held  in  Japan.  They 
are  swathed  in  coverings  of  the  costliest  brocade  and 
kept  in  boxes  of  superb  lacquer.  There  is  scarcely 
any  limit  to  the  prices  paid  for  them,  and  the  names 
of  their  fortunate  owners  are  spoken  of  with  respect 
by  Chajin  of  a proper  spirit.  Kaempfer  tells  a won- 
derful tale  about  an  island  called  Mauri-ga-shima,  in 
the  vicinity  of  Formosa,  where  in  ancient  times  there 
was  found  a porcelain  clay  of  fine  quality.  Enraged 
by  the  wickedness  of  the  inhabitants,  the  gods  caused 
the  island  to  sink  beneath  the  sea,  and  with  it  all  its 
keramic  treasures  disappeared.  But  the  beauty  of  its 
porcelain  was  so  well  remembered  that  in  after  years 
men  were  wont  to  search  the  depths  of  the  ocean  for 
a vase.  When  they  found  one,  they  would  remove 
with  infinite  care  the  shells  that  encrusted  it,  and  sell 
it  for  a fabulous  sum  in  Japan,  where  this  ware  of 
Mauri-ga-shima  was  so  much  esteemed  that  none  but 
the  Emperor  might  possess  it.  Of  course  this  is  all  a 
foolish  fable.  Kaempfer  credited  it,  and  Jacquemart 
gravely  made  it  the  basis  of  a general  theory  with 
regard  to  the  keramic  productions  of  the  Far  East. 

267 


JAPAN 

The  probable  truth  is  that  the  story  was  invented  by 
some  Japanese  Swift  to  satirise  the  irrational  value 
which  the  virtuosi  of  his  country  attached  to  rusty  old 
specimens  of  Korean  faience,  homely  pieces  of  Imbe 
pottery,  and  tiny  tea-jars  of  Shunkei-yaki. 

To  examine,  with  anything  like  becoming  accuracy, 
the  subject  of  tea-jars,  tea-cups,  and  other  Cha-no-Tu 
utensils,  of  which  the  wares  of  Seto  may  be  considered 
typical,  would  require  a separate  treatise.  Several 
treatises  have  indeed  been  devoted  to  the  matter  by 
Japanese  dilettanti.  In  every  case  the  authors  are 
faithful  to  the  spirit  of  their  science.  They  waste  no 
time  upon  historical  details  which,  however  welcome 
they  might  be  to  outsiders,  are  supposed  to  be  familiar 
to  every  duly  educated  devotee.  The  information 
they  give  is  limited  to  an  outline  drawing  of  each 
cha-tsuho  (tea-jar),  cha-wan  (tea- cup,)  koro  (censer), 
mizu-sashi  (ewer)  and  so  forth,  thought  worthy  to  be 
included  among  the  meibutsu  (celebrities)  of  the  craft ; 
the  dimensions  of  every  part  of  these  little  vessels  ; a 
description  of  the  brocade  bags  in  which  they  repose  ; 
facsimiles  of  the  certificates  accompanying  them  or  the 
inscriptions  on  their  boxes,  — certificates  and  inscrip- 
tions, which,  as  the  autographs  of  renowned  virtuosi^ 
add  immensely  to  the  intrinsic  value  of  a specimen ; 
the  names,  sometimes  of  past,  always  of  present,  for- 
tunate possessors  of  these  gems,  and  finally  the  names 
of  the  chefs-i ceuvre  themselves,  — names  that  consti- 
tute a curious  record  of  Japanese  ingenuity,  ideality, 
and  refinement.  The  Western  amateur  is  bewildered 
by  this  extraordinarily  elaborate  framework  of  unes- 
sential information.  He  fails  to  connect  it  with  the 
merits  of  the  picture  itself,  being,  in  fact,  incapable 
of  appreciating  those  merits.  Were  there  question 

268 


WARES  OF  OWARI  AND  M I N O 

of  decorative  beauties,  of  technical  excellences,  or  of 
wonderful  effects  of  colour,  such  as  those  shown  by 
many  Chinese  masterpieces,  there  would  be  some- 
thing to  lay  hold  of.  But  the  cha-tsubo  and  cha-wan 
of  Seto,  and  their  Chinese  or  Korean  companions, 
depend,  so  far  as  Western  appreciation  is  concerned, 
entirely  on  the  peculiar  character  of  their  glaze  and 
the  accuracy  of  their  finish.  The  glaze,  indeed,  is 
often  very  beautiful,  — rich,  lustrous  and  showing  a 
curious  blending  or  contrast  of  fanciful  and  assthetic 
tints.  The  workmanship,  too,  is  sometimes  highly 
skilled.  But  it  by  no  means  follows  that  specimens 
possessing  these  charms  are  most  treasured  by  the 
orthodox  Chajin,  His  ideal  is  frequently  a rustic, 
homely  object,  incomprehensible,  if  not  actually 
shocking,  to  the  uninitiated.  His  inherited  percep- 
tion detects  features  of  refinement  [garni'),  and  of  ele- 
gance [johin)  that  have  no  significance  for  outsiders, 
and  his  imagination  is  moved  by  associations  that 
cluster  round  an  ideograph.  To  ridicule  such  fancies 
would  be  presumptuous.  They  are  the  finer  breath 
of  a civilisation  the  most  ancient,  and  in  many  re- 
spects the  most  picturesque,  the  world  has  known. 
Westerners  do  not  fully  comprehend  them  : that  is  all. 
If,  then,  but  brief  space  is  here  devoted  to  the  old 
pottery  of  Seto,  of  Korea,  and  of  other  factories  re- 
vered by  the  disciples  of  the  Cha-no-Tu  cult,  it  is  not 
because  the  right  is  denied  to  Japanese  virtuosi  to  credit 
such  wares  with  charms  invisible  to  duller  eyes. 
Above  all,  the  sincerity  of  their  asstheticism  is  beyond 
question.  It  is  recorded  in  their  annals  that  a Korean, 
by  name  Yugeki,  on  the  eve  of  starting  for  Japan, 
received  from  his  Sovereign  a cup  of  Komagai  faience 
to  serve  as  a pen-washer  should  occasion  arise  to  dis- 

269 


JAPAN 

play  his  renowned  calligraphy  ; how  he  presented  this 
bit  of  white,  unadorned,  craquele  faience  to  Takeda, 
a Japanese  doctor  who  had  saved  his  life;  how  Ta- 
keda ignobly  parted  with  it  in  payment  of  a debt,  and 
how  in  the  year  1639  it  came  into  the  possession  of 
a Japanese  feudal  chief  for  a sum  equivalent  to 
It  is  also  recorded  that  the  Abbot  Nensei,  in  exchange 
for  a little  tea-jar  of  Chinese  faience,  known  as  ‘‘  First 
Flower”  [hatsu-hand)y  obtained  (1584  a.d.)  a ver- 
milion rescript  excusing  himself  and  his  descendants 
from  the  payment  of  all  taxes  for  ever.  And  it  is 
further  a fact  that  amateurs  of  the  present  time  dis- 
burse hundreds  of  dollars  for  specimens  of  Soto-yaki 
that  scarcely  seem  worth  the  boxes  containing  them. 
No  sentiment,  wholly  spurious,  could  have  established 
these  subtle  standards  and  maintained  them  through 
centuries.  Even  the  shock  of  Western  civilisation, 
unromantic,  leisureless,  and  radical,  has  failed  to  lower 
them  appreciably.  If  they  are  here  left  undiscussed, 
it  is  not  because  they  excite  contempt,  but  because 
they  baffle  comprehension. 

Kato  Shirozaemon's  successor  was  his  son,  to  whom 
he  gave  his  own  industrial  name,  Toshiro.  Hence 
a new  source  of  confusion  was  introduced.  For 
amateurs  who  apply  the  term  Ko-Seto  to  the  pro- 
ductions of  Shirozaemon  himself,  have  chosen  to  call 
his  son’s  pieces  Toshiro-yakiy  whereas  by  other  con- 
noisseurs the  latter  name  is  understood  to  refer  to  the 
works  of  the  earlier  potter.  A more  correct  nomen- 
clature distinguishes  the  pieces  of  the  first  generation 
as  Toshiro-yakiy  and  those  of  the  second  as  Manaka 
Kobutsu  (true  middle-period  antiquities).  The  ware 
is  not  inferior  to  that  produced  by  the  first  Toshiro, 
but  Chinese  clay  being  no  longer  used,  the  purplish 

270 


WARES  OF  OWARI  AND  MINO 

pate  of  the  Ko-seto  is  not  found  in  the  Tbshiro-yaki, 
Otherwise  the  two  faiences  are  scarcely  distinguish- 
able. To  the  second  Toshiro,  however,  is  attributed 
the  manufacture  of  an  impure  yellow  and  slightly 
crackled  glaze  which  is  much  prized  by  Japanese 
amateurs  under  the  name  of  Kt-SetOy  or  yellow  Seto 
ware.  Toshiro  did  not  invent  this  glaze ; his  father 
had  used  it  constantly,  but  not  conspicuously.  The 
son  made  it  his  principal  glaze,  and  succeeded  in 
producing  a better  shade  of  yellow.  It  has  to  be 
observed,  however,  that  the  Ki-Seto-yaki  of  this  early 
period  differs  entirely  from  a later  faience  of  the 
same  name.  The  glaze  of  the  former  was  lustrous, 
thick,  and  only  slightly  translucid ; that  of  the  latter, 
thin,  transparent,  and  covered  with  a network  of  fine 
but  clearly  marked  crackle.  The  exact  date  of  the 
second  Toshiro’s  death  is  not  recorded,  but  it  probably 
took  place  about  1290. 

In  the  hands  of  Toshiro  the  third,  grandson  of 
Shirozaemon,  the  Seto  ware  attained  a high  degree 
of  excellence.  His  pieces  are  known  as  C/iu  Kobutsu 
(medium  antiquities)  or  Kinka-zariy  so  called  from 
the  name  of  his  factory  [Kinkazan-yama)  : the  latter 
term  is,  however,  referred  by  some  authorities  to  the 
golden  [kin)  lustre  of  his  ware.  Soft  yellow  glazes, 
others  of  rich  golden  brown,  others  black  and  choco- 
late or  of  jlambe  description,  were  among  his  spe- 
cialties, and  he  developed  such  a mastery  of  all  the 
technical  processes  of  his  art  that  beyond  doubt  he 
would  have  bequeathed  to  subsequent  generations 
some  specimens  of  rare  merit  had  not  his  market 
been  limited  by  the  austere  tastes  of  the  tea-clubs. 
His  jlambe  glazes  received  the  name  of  Namako-de,  in 
allusion  to  a resemblance  which  their  surface  bore  to 

^271 


JAPAN 

the  sheen  of  a cuttlefish  [namako^  supposed  to  live  in 
a lake  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Kinka  in  Oshu.  Toshiro 
the  third  died  about  the  year  1330. 

Toshiro  the  third  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Tozaburo,  who  flourished  during  the  middle  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  The  works  of  this  the  last  of  the 
four  great  Seto  masters,  are  called  Hafu-gamay  because 
the  lower  edge  of  the  glaze,  which  is  unusually  thick, 
often  assumes  a contour  like  the  curve  of  the  Hafuy 
an  opening  of  pointed-arch  shape  above  the  entrance 
in  Japanese  houses.  Inferior  to  the  productions  of 
his  predecessor,  Tozaburo’s  ware  is  nevertheless 
immensely  esteemed.  In  truth,  if  a list  were  com- 
piled setting  forth  all  the  special  names  that  have 
been  given  to  particularly  prized  specimens  of  old 
Seto  pottery,  and  all  the  couplets  that  have  been 
composed  in  praise  of  pet  pieces,  the  result  would  be 
a tolerably  bulky  volume.  It  is  somewhat  strange 
that  the  history  of  men  whose  productions  were  so 
highly  prized  should  not  have  been  more  carefully 
recorded.  Scarcely  anything  is  known  about  the 
lives  of  the  four  renowned  Seto  experts,  and  of  the 
wares  of  their  successors  people  speak  collectively, 
calling  them  all  Kodai-Shunkei  (Shunkei  of  later  gen- 
erations), or  at  best  distinguishing  among  them  Sakai- 
Shunkei  and  Yoshino-Shunkei ; concerning  which 
terms  there  is  nothing  to  be  said  except  that  Sakai- 
Shunkei  refers  to  faience  potted  on  the  borders 
[Sakaime)  of  Owari  and  Mino.  Tozaburo  died  about 
the  year  1380. 

It  is  an  article  of  faith  with  Japanese  connoisseurs 
that  after  the  death  of  the  fourth  Toshiro  the  pottery 
manufacture  of  Seto  entered  a steadily  declining  phase, 
and  was  only  rescued  from  worthlessness  by  the  occa- 

272 


WARES  OF  OWARI  AND  MINO 

sionally  exercised  influence  of  such  amateurs  as  Shino, 
Oribe,  Rikiu,  and  Kobori  Masakazu.  Here,  again, . 
the  standard  is  applied.  From  a Western 

point  of  view  the  history  of  the  factories  reads  differ- 
ently. During  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries 
the  disturbed  state  of  the  Empire  undoubtedly  affected 
the  Owari  potters  and  greatly  checked  the  develop- 
ment of  their  industry.  But  from  1600  to  1800 
there  can  be  no  question  that  they  worked  prosper- 
ously and  skilfully.  The  remains  of  twenty-nine 
kilns  can  now  be  traced  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Seto,  and  specimens  belonging  to  that  era  show  con- 
siderable technical  ability.  The  preparation  of  the 
pate  underwent  improvement.  From  somewhat  coarse 
pottery  it  became  hard,  close  stone- ware.  As  for  the 
glazes,  they  offer  charming  variety.  Although 
limited  to  a few  colours,  their  richness,  lustre,  and 
depth,  and  the  manner  of  their  application  are 
deserving  of  praise.  The  commonest  body-glaze  is 
feuille-mortey  warm  yet  delicate.  Frequently  this  is 
splashed  or  shot  with  deep  claret,  honey  yellow,  or 
golden  brown.  There  is,  also,  very  dark  mahogany, 
almost  black,  with  flecks  of  grey,  clouds  of  russet,,  or 
bands  of  amber  ; iron  red,  dusted  with  metallic  specks  ; 
claret  brown  passing  into  pinkish  buff  with  ruddy 
effects  of  much  beauty,  and  other  combinations 
evincing  taste  and  skill.  Unfortunately  these  glazes 
are  found  only  on  insignificant  pieces- — tea-jars, 
cups,  ewers,  and  so  forth  — that  possess  no  decorative 
claims.  A faience  of  quite  a different  class  is  craquele 
Seto-yaki.  The  glaze  of  this  is  peculiarly  vitreous, 
and  so  translucid  that  the  brown  colour  of  the  pate 
shows  through  it.  The  crackle  is  regular  and  well 
marked,  and  some  very  pleasing  specimens  have  been 

VOL.  VIII. 18  070 


JAPAN 

produced  in  which  the  brownish  or  grey  body  glaze 
is  relieved  by  streaks  and  splashes  of  colour.  These, 
however,  do  not  date  farther  back  than  the  end  of 
the  sixteenth  or  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
Among  them  may  also  be  placed  the  yellow  Seto 
faience  [Ki-Seto)  mentioned  above  as  distinct  from 
the  Kt-Seto  of  the  second  Toshiro.  The  origin  of 
this  later-period  yellow  faience  is  often  attributed  to 
one  Hakuan,  who  is  supposed  to  have  flourished  about 
1470.  But  in  truth  Hakuan  is  a person  of  whom 
very  little  is  known.  Some  authorities  assert  that  he 
was  a physician  of  the  thirteenth  century ; that  he 
never  manufactured  any  faience  himself,  and  that  his 
name  is  associated  with  Seto  ware  by  the  accident 
that,  having  attended  the  first  Toshiro  in  an  illness, 
the  latter  presented  him  with  six  tea-bowls.  How- 
ever this  may  be,  the  point  to  be  noted  is  that  craquele 
Ki-Seto  faience  does  not  appear  to  have  been  produced 
before  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century.  It  can 
hardly  be  termed  a yellow  ware,  as  in  the  majority 
of  specimens  one  is  perplexed  to  determine  whether 
the  impure  yellow  of  the  transparent  glaze  itself,  or 
the  brownish  colour  of  the  pate  beneath  it,  predomi- 
nates. Occasionally  ornamentation  is  added,  generally 
taking  the  form  of  floral  scrolls  in  relief.  The  col- 
lector finds,  also,  figures  of  mythical  personages  and 
animals  in  crackled  Kt-Seto-yaki, 

Until  the  present  century  it  was  not  the  habit  of 
the  Seto  potters  to  mark  their  pieces.  Neither  did  any 
of  them,  after  the  fourth  Toshiro,  attain  sufficient 
distinction  to  be  remembered.  It  is  known  only 
that  between  1600  and  1800  the  following  families, 
all  of  which  are  now  represented,  were  among  the 
principal  artists  : — 


274 


WARES  OF  OWARI  AND  M I N O 

The  Kato  Shozaburo  family,  with  its  branch,  the  Kato 
Sadatar5  family. 

The  Kato  Enroku  family,  with  its  branches,  namely,  the 
Kato  Monemon  family,  and  the  Kato  Kanshiro  family. 

The  Kato  Jyokichi  family. 

The  Kawamoto  Hansuke  family  (founded  1689). 

The  Kawamoto  Sukegoro  family. 

The  Kato  Shyubei  family. 

The  Kato  Gosuke  family,  descended  directly  from  Kato 
Shirozaemon. 

Wares  produced  in  Owari  after  the  time  of  the 
fourth  Toshiro  are  included  in  the  term  Nochi-gama 
(subsequent  kiln).  Certain  special  varieties  of  these 
call  for  brief  notice. 

ORIBE-YAKI 

To  the  initiative  of  the  celebrated  Chajin  Furuta 
Oribe  is  attributed  the  establishment  (1573—1592)  of  a 
factory  at  Narumi,  where  were  produced,  under  his 
personal  direction,  sixty-six  tea-jars  of  special  excel- 
lence, one  for  each  province  in  Japan.  To  these 
alone  originally  belonged  the  name  Oribe-yakiy  but 
the  term  subsequently  received  a wider  signification, 
being  applied  to  all  pottery  manufactured  at  the 
Narumi  factory.  The  characteristics  of  this  ware 
are  sugary  white,  buff,  sage  green,  and  salmon  pink 
glazes,  used  alone  or  in  combination.  The  varying 
thickness  of  the  green  glaze  often  produces  the  effect 
of  blue  mottling  or  streaking.  Light  brown  glaze  is 
also  found.  There  is  coarse  crackle.  Decoration  of 
an  archaic  character  is  frequently  added,  the  pigment 
used  being  invariably  dark  brown  (shibu).  A favourite 
design  is  plum  petals  among  latticed  bars,  that  being 
the  badge  of  the  Oribe  family.  This  Oribe-yakiy 

..  _ 275 


JAPAN 

though  never  delicate  or  elaborate,  is  often  striking 
and  artistic.  The  manufacture  is  still  carried  on,  but 
rough,  insignificant  pieces  alone  are  produced. 

SHINO-YAKI 

The  original  Shino-yaii,  another  variety  of  the 
Nochi-gama,  is  interesting  as  an  example  of  the  ex- 
ceeding rusticity  affected  by  some  devotees  of  the  Cha- 
no-Tu  cult.  It  is  strikingly  rude,  clumsy  faience,  or 
stone-ware.  The  fate  is  coarse ; the  glaze  thick, 
white,  crackled,  and  glistening ; and  the  decoration 
— when  there  is  any  — consists  of  the  most  archaic 
designs  ; as  banded  hedge  patterns,  rudimentary 
grasses  and  blossoms,  suggestions  of  birds,  and  so  forth, 
dashed  on  with  dark  brown  pigment  [shibu).  The 
style  was  originated  (1480)  by  Shino  lenobu,  a cele- 
brated master  of  Tea  Ceremonials  and  vassal  of  the 
great  dilettante,  the  Regent  Yoshimasa.  Japanese 
connoisseurs  do  not  hesitate  to  pay  two  or  three  hun- 
dred dollars  for  an  old  specimen  of  this  remarkably 
homely  ware.  Shino  is  chiefly  remembered  in  con- 
nection with  a system  of  incense  burning  which  he 
elaborated,  — a delicate  and  refined  process,  very  dif- 
ferent from  the  homely  faience  that  bears  his  name. 
Another  variety  of  the  ware  attributed  to  Shino’s 
inspiration  is  known  as  Mugi-wara-de,  or  barley-straw 
pattern,  the  decoration  consisting  of  lines  that  are 
intended  to  imitate  straw. 

GEMPIN-YAKI 

When  the  Ming  dynasty  of  China  had  been  over- 
thrown by  the  T'sung  Tartars,  four  Chinese  nobles 
came  (1659)  to  Japan  to  pray  for  aid  against  the 

276 


WARES  OF  OWARI  AND  M I N O 

northern  invaders.  The  Japanese  were  at  first  dis- 
posed to  entertain  this  request,  but,  reflecting  that 
they  should  be  supporting  rulers  who  fifty  years  before 
had  sent  an  army  to  oppose  Hideyoshi’s  generals 
in  Korea,  they  ultimately  decided  to  let  the  Ming 
fight  their  own  battles.  The  fugitive  nobles  were, 
however,  treated  with  all  courtesy.  Confided  to  the 
hospitable  care  of  Japanese  barons,  three  of  them 
seem  to  have  passed  the  remainder  of  their  lives  in 
uneventful  seclusion,  while  the  fourth,  Gempin,  re- 
siding at  Nagoya,  in  Owari,  devoted  his  leisure  to 
painting  and  pottery-making.  As  an  artist  he  was 
not  without  ability,  but  his  keramic  productions  show 
either  that  he  possessed  little  technical  skill,  or  that 
he  adapted  himself  to  the  severest  canons  of  the  tea- 
clubs.  Amongst  the  recognised  chefs-d' ceuvre  [met- 
hutsu)  of  Japan  there  is  figured  a small  incense-burner, 
the  work  of  Gempin.  It  is  of  unglazed  pottery. 
Engraved  in  the  pate  is  a single  petal  of  the  Nelumbo 
nucifera^  and  incised  on  both  the  inner  and  outer  sur- 
faces are  a number  of  ideographs  executed  with  won- 
derful delicacy  and  precision.  Gempin’s  favourite 
method  of  decoration,  however,  was  blue  under  the 
glaze.  The  painting  was  rough,  almost  rudimentary  ; 
the  tone  of  the  blue  impure,  and  the  glaze  greyish 
white. 

MIFUKAI-YAKI 

During  the  Genki  era  (1570- 1571),  the  province  of 
Owari  was  the  scene  of  a war  that  partially  dispersed 
the  Seto  potters.  At  that  time  the  representative  of 
the  Kato  family  was  Kato  Kagemasa.  Accompanied 
by  his  younger  brother,  Nihei,  this  man  made  his 
way  to  Satonoki-mura,  in  the  neighbouring  province 

•277 


JAPAN 

of  Mino,  and  there  set  up  a kiln.  Some  forty  years 
later  (i6io,)  when  Tokugawa  Yoshinao,  Prince  of 
Owari,  established  himself  at  Nagoya,  he  instituted 
enquiries  with  the  object  of  reviving  the  keramic 
industry  of  the  province.  Kat5  Kagemasa’s  title  to 
be  regarded  as  the  direct  descendant  of  the  celebrated 
Toshiro  having  been  thus  verified,  he  was  recalled 
from  Mino  and  granted  a yearly  pension  as  well  as  a 
plot  of  land  in  the  village  of  Akazu,  where  he  opened 
a factory.  His  kiln  was  called  0-kama-ya  (honourable 
kiln),  in  recognition  of  the  fact  that  it  enjoyed  official 
patronage.  The  ware  produced  was  of  the  usual  Seto 
type,  but  of  such  good  quality  that  when,  in  1630, 
Tokugawa  Mitsutomo,  the  then  Prince  of  Owari, 
desired  to  establish  a special  factory  to  manufacture 
faience  for  his  own  use  and  for  purposes  of  presenta- 
tion, he  entrusted  the  work  to  the  potters  of  Akazu. 
The  result  was  the  Mifukai  kiln,  within  the  outer 
enclosure  of  the  Nagoya  castle.  It  was  under  the 
superintendence  of  Kato  Tozaburo,  and  its  productions 
were  called  Mifukai-yakiy  or  sometimes  Oniwa-yakt 
(honourable  garden  ware)  but  the  latter  term  is  seldom 
used,  being  easily  confounded  with  the  name  of  a 
wholly  different  faience  manufactured  in  Kishiu  [vide 
Kishiu-yakiy  The  Mifukai-yaki  includes  most  of  the 
ordinary  Seto  glazes,  and  in  these  varieties  presents 
no  special  features,  except  that  the  pate  is  closer  and 
of  lighter  colour  than  the  usual  Seto-yaki.  There  is, 
however,  one  kind  to  which  the  name  Mifukai-yaki  is 
principally  applied  by  connoisseurs.  Its  body  glaze 
is  the  vitreous,  semi-translucid,  craquele  glaze  of 
Owari ; over  this  run  broad  bands  of  brown  ochre, 
splashed  with  a glaze  like  avanturine  lacquer,  and 
between  the  bands  are  streaks  of  green  and  violet. 

278 


WARES  OF  OWARI  AND  M I N O 

The  effect  is  more  bizarre  than  artistic.  The  ware 
is  no  longer  produced.  The  custom  of  maintaining 
a private  kiln  was  long  observed  by  the  princely  family 
of  Owari.  In  the  grounds  of  their  Yedo  (Tokyo) 
mansion,  at  Toyama  a small  kiln  stood  until  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century. 


SHUNTAI-YAKI 

This  is  a variety  of  faience  produced  at  Akazu 
from  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  It 
is  of  the  jlambe  description,  the  most  characteristic 
variety  having  vitreous,  grey  craquele  glaze  streaked 
with  blue  showing  shades  of  violet  and  buff. 

Considering  the  productions  of  the  Akazu  potters, 
especially  the  Mifukai  and  Shunfai  wares,  it  will  be 
seen  that  a comparatively  new  departure  was  made  by 
the  potters  of  Owari  at  the  beginning  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  Instead  of  confining  themselves  to 
the  solid,  lustrous  glazes  of  the  Toshiro  school,  they 
turned  also  to  vitreous,  craquele  glazes  of  clear,  bright 
colours,  disposed  in  the  jlambe  or  splashed  style. 
There  is  such  a marked  affinity  between  these  manu- 
factures and  those  of  Karatsu,  in  Hizen  (vide  Karatsu- 
yakt)  that  the  student  is  led  to  suspect  imitation.  In 
the  annals  of  the  neighbouring  province  Mino,  it  is 
related  that  a descendant  of  Kato  Shirozaemon  came 
from  Seto  to  Kujiri  in  1573,  and  that,  some  thirty 
years  subsequently,  his  son  and  successor,  Kagenobu, 
by  a train  of  circumstances  that  will  be  related  in 
connection  with  the  Mino  industry,  acquired  an 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  Karatsu  methods.  Refer- 
ence to  the  story  of  the  Mifukai-yaki  (vide  suprai)  shows 
that  at  this  time  Kato  Tagemasa  and  his  brother 

279 


JAPAN 

Nihei — afterwards  leading  experts  at  Akazu,  in 
Owari  — were  working  at  the  neighbouring  village 
of  Satonoki.  Hearing  of  the  novel  processes  intro- 
duced by  Kagenobu,  these  men,  as  well  as  other 
potters  of  Mino  and  Owari,  made  several  efforts  to 
learn  his  methods.  They  were  unsuccessful,  until, 
one  New  Year’s  day,  during  an  entertainment  at 
Kagenobu’s  house,  Nihei  secretly  climbed  into  the 
factory  and  took  observations.  The  story  runs  that 
his  temerity  nearly  cost  him  his  life  when,  a few  days 
later,  Kagenobu  discovered  what  had  occurred. 
Thenceforth  the  art  of  manufacturing  polychrome 
glazes  received  considerable  development.  Its  best 
examples  are  the  Mifukai-yaki  and  Shuntai  faiences. 


TOKONAME-YAKI 

This  ware  derives  its  name  from  that  of  the  village 
where  it  was  first  produced  (in  Owari)  during  the 
Tensho  era  (i 573-1 591).  It  is  pottery  of  rude 
character  made  to  imitate  an  imported  ware  called 
Namban-yaki  (southern  barbarian  ware).  Where  the 
Namban-yaki  was  produced  there  is  difficulty  in  de- 
termining. Some  attribute  it  to  Cochin  China,  some 
to  Korea,  and  some  to  Luzon.  Its  qualities  would 
scarcely  repay  the  trouble  of  identification.  It  is 
coarse,  unglazed  pottery,  having  the  appearance  of 
rusty  iron,  and  devoid  of  decoration,  unless  the  term 
can  be  applied  to  impressed  cord  marks.  The  Nam- 
ban-yaki is  one  of  the  inexplicable  fancies  of  the  Jap- 
anese Chajin.  He  distinguishes  it  by  various  names 
according  to  the  nature  of  the  cord  marks  — as  Nawa- 
sudare  (cord  curtain),  or  Yoko-nawa  (cross  cord)  — 
and  he  pays  two  or  three  hundred  dollars  for  a cylin- 

280 


WARES  OF  OWARI  AND  MINO 

drical  vessel  of  this  semi-savage  manufacture.  It  has 
been  imitated  by  various  Japanese  potters,  whose  ori- 
ginal productions  are  incomparably  superior.  The 
T okoname-y aki  is  among  these  imitations.  It  did  not, 
however,  attract  the  fastidious  attention  of  the  tea- 
clubs  until  the  time  of  Chozaburo  (1818-1839) 
and  Hachibei  (1830—1844).  These  experts  succeeded 
in  prostituting  their  skill  sufficiently  to  manufacture 
good  likenesses  of  the  Namban  ware. 

TOYOSUKE  RAKU-YAKI 

This  is  a faience  produced  at  the  Horaku  factory  in 
Nagoya,  the  chief  town  of  Owari.  It  dates  from  the 
early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  owes  its 
origin  to  an  expert  called  Toyosuke.  It  is  soft, 
crackled  faience  of  the  Kaku  type,  covered  on  one 
side  with  greenish  white  glaze,  embellished  by  bold 
sketches  of  floral  subjects,  and  on  the  other  with  a 
thin  coat  of  lacquer,  carefully  applied,  and  bearing 
delicate  designs  of  considerable  beauty.  Lacquer 
thus  employed  on  small  pieces  of  faience  becomes  an 
agent  of  considerable  value  in  keramic  decoration, 
and  is  especially  suited  to  the  soft  Raku  ware  of 
Toyosuke. 

NOCHI  SHUNKEI 

There  is  some  confusion  about  the  use  of  this  term. 
Mr.  Ninagawa  Noritane,  in  his  work  Kanko  Zusetsu, 
applies  it  to  all  the  faience  produced  in  the  time  of 
Kobori  Masakazu  (1620-1660),  not  only  in  Owari, 
but  also  in  Tambu  and  Ise,  and  says  that  the  most 
valued  specimens  were  manufactured  by  the  dilettanti 
Chaemon,  Koson,  Soi,  Tahei,  Doyen,  and  Asakura 
Domi.  Other  authorities  use  it  only  in  reference  to  the 

281 


JAPAN 

faience  of  the  second  T5shiro.  The  question  pos- 
sesses no  importance  from  an  artistic  point  of  view. 


OWARI  PORCELAIN 

The  keramists  of  Owari,  although  they  enjoyed  the 
reputation  of  being  the  first  potters  of  Japan,  made  no 
attempt  to  manufacture  porcelain  until  more  than  a 
century  and  a half  had  elapsed  from  the  date  of  its 
successful  production  in  Hizen.  The  circumstances 
under  which  this  notable  addition  was  made  to  the 
industrial  resources  of  the  province  are  interesting. 

In  the  year  1798,  Tsugane  Bunzaemon  Taneomi, 
then  governor  of  Arsuta,  the  port  of  Nagoya,  re- 
ceived instructions  from  the  chief  of  the  province 
to  reclaim  a stretch  of  the  foreshore.  The  work 
having  been  accomplished,  a proclamation  was  issued 
offering  free  allotments  to  farmers.  One  day  the 
governor  visited  the  place  on  a tour  of  inspection,  and 
observed  among  the  new  agriculturists  a number  of 
men  who  were  evidently  without  experience  in  such 
business.  On  enquiry,  it  appeared  that  these  men  had 
come  from  Seto.  The  once  flourishing  potteries  of 
the  little  town  had  long  suffered  from  want  of  custom, 
and  their  owners  were  reduced  to  great  straits.  The 
situation  was  aggravated  by  an  old  law  of  the  fief,  for- 
bidding more  than  one  member  of  the  potter’s  family 
to  devote  himself  to  his  father’s  trade.  Under  these 
circumstances  the  offer  of  free  allotments  in  the  re- 
claimed district  had  been  gladly  embraced  by  many 
of  the  artisans.  The  governor  summoned  one  of  the 
latter  to  his  residence  ; reminded  him  that  the  prov- 
ince had  long  been  noted  for  its  keramic  productions, 
and  urged  him  to  return  with  his  companion  to  Seto. 

282 


WARES  OF  OWARI  AND  M I N O 

But  the  ex-potter,  whose  name  was  Kichizaemon,  ex- 
plained that  a livelihood  was  no  longer  obtainable  at 
Seto  : not  from  choice,  but  from  necessity,  he  had 
given  up  his  trade  to  his  eldest  son,  and  had  come  to 
the  new  farms  accompanied  by  his  second  son,  Tami- 
kichi.  The  governor  was  still  unsatisfied.  It  was  ill, 
he  said,  adopting  a new  profession  in  mature  years. 
Finally,  he  offered  to  become  himself  Kichizaemon’s 
instructor  in  the  art  of  porcelain  making.  The  Seto 
artisan  gladly  availed  himself  of  this  proposal.  A kiln 
was  built  at  the  governor’s  residence,  and  for  several 
months  Kichizaemon  worked  there.  Only  a small 
measure  of  success  was  achieved.  Coarse  household 
utensils  of  porcelain  were  the  utmost  that  could  be 
produced,  and  even  among  these  the  proportion  of 
failures  was  almost  prohibitively  large.  But  the  gov- 
ernor and  his  son  Tanesada  were  indefatigable.  They 
supplied  the  necessary  capital  and  made  arrangements 
for  the  prosecution  of  the  industry  on  an  extended 
scale.  The  potters  of  Seto  now  took  alarm.  Their 
head-man,  Kato  Tozaemon,  visited  the  governor  of 
Atsuta,  and  being  admitted  to  his  sick-room,  explained 
that  the  results  of  his  project  would  probably  prove 
fatal  to  the  industries  of  Seto  and  the  neighbouring 
villages.  The  governor  did  not  deny  that  this  fore- 
cast might  be  just,  but  explained  the  Atsuta  factories 
were  only  intended  to  give  employment  to  potters  who 
were  prevented  by  local  regulations  from  pursuing 
their  trade  at  Seto.  Could  this  difficulty  be  overcome, 
Tozaemon’s  remonstrance  would  have  more  weight. 
The  issue  of  the  interview  was  that  representations 
were  made  to  the  Prince  of  Owari,  and  the  law  re- 
stricting the  number  of  potters  in  each  family  was 
repealed. 

283 


JAPAN 

The  potters  of  Atsuta  now  returned  to  Seto,  and 
Kat5  Tozaemon,  Kichizaemon,  and  his  son  Tami- 
kichi  combined  to  establish  a porcelain  factory  there. 
Their  example  was  followed  by  fourteen  keramists. 
But  the  quality  of  the  ware  underwent  no  improve- 
ment. It  became  evident  that  without  fuller 
instruction  the  industry  had  no  future.  In  this 
dilemma  the  eyes  of  the  potters  naturally  turned  to- 
wards Hizen.  Tamikichi  resolved  to  proceed  thither, 
— a tedious  journey  and  one  of  more  than  doubt- 
ful success.  It  was  known  that  the  secrets  of  the  art 
were  jealously  guarded,  and  that  an  attempt  to  acquire 
them  might  end  disastrously.  The  story  furnishes 
another  instance  of  the  part  played  by  the  Buddhist 
priesthood  in  fostering  and  promoting  Japanese  in- 
dustries. It  was  a priest  that  familiarised  the  people 
with  the  chief  mechanical  processes  of  pottery  manu- 
facture ; it  was  a priest  that  enabled  Kat5  Shirozae- 
mon  to  visit  China ; and  it  was  a priest  that  now 
aided  Tamikichi’s  design.  The  consent  of  the  lord 
of  the  fief  was,  of  course,  a necessary  preliminary  to 
the  journey  ; but  great  a noble  as  was  the  Prince 
of  Owari,  he  could  do  little  to  further  Tamikichi’s 
ultimate  purpose.  In  the  island  of  Amakusa,  off  the 
coast  of  Higo,  the  temple  of  Tokoji  was  under  the 
direction  of  an  Abbot  named  Tenchu.  This  prelate 
was  a native  of  Owari,  had  served  there  as  an  acolyte, 
and  still  continued  to  visit  Seto  on  his  preaching  tours. 
Furnished  with  a letter  to  the  Abbot,  Tamikichi  set 
out  in  company  with  a priest  called  Genmon.  The 
two  men  left  Seto  March  lo,  1804.  They  were 
escorted  to  the  outskirts  of  the  district  by  all  the 
chief  men  of  Seto,  such  a journey  for  such  a purpose 
being  regarded  as  an  undertaking  of  almost  solemn 

284 


WARES  OF  OWARI  AND  M I N O 

magnitude.  Arrived  in  Amakusa,  Tamikichi  found 
hospitality  and  aid  at  Tokoji.  The  Abbot  deputed  a 
priest  to  introduce  him  to  a porcelain  manufacturer 
called  Ueda  Gensaku,  whose  factory  he  entered. 
Here  he  soon  mastered  the  mechanical  processes  of 
the  workshop,  but  the  principles,  the  nature  of  the 
ingredients  and  the  proportions  in  which  they  were 
mixed,  remained  a sealed  book  to  him.  As  to  these 
things,  Gensaku  would  teach  him  nothing.  Tamikichi 
determined  to  push  on  to  Hizen.  Again  the  priests 
came  to  his  assistance.  From  the  , Abbot  of  Tokoji 
he  received  a letter  enlisting  the  good  offices  of  the 
Prior  of  Saihoji,  a temple  in  the  island  of  Hirado. 
Leaving  Gensaku’s  factory  under  pretence  of  a brief 
visit  to  the  town  of  Nagasaki,  he  found  a warm  wel- 
come at  Saihoji,  where  the  Prior  himself  had  just 
commenced  the  diversion  of  making  Raku  faience. 

The  keramists  of  Mikawachi  (Hirado)  then  enjoyed 
the  highest  reputation  among  their  fellow  craftsmen 
throughout  Japan.  Tamikichi  was  franked  on  to 
another  temple  (Yakuoji),  and  by  the  aid  of  its 
priests  found  himself  presently  in  the  service  of  Ima- 
mura  Ikuemon,  chief  potter  to  the  lord  of  Hirado. 
He  did  not  remain  there  long.  The  local  officials 
were  careful  to  enforce  an  order  prohibiting  the  resi- 
dence of  any  one  from  another  fief.  Once  more  he 
entreated  the  good  offices  of  the  priests,  and  after 
many  difficulties  succeeded,  at  last,  in  obtaining  an 
entry  to  the  factory  of  Fukumoto  Nizaemon,  in  Sasa- 
mura  (Hizen).  Ten  months  had  now  elapsed  since 
Tamikichi  left  Seto.  He  worked  two  years  at  Fuku- 
moto’s  factory,  and  became  so  skilled  that  his  master 
made  determined  efforts  to  retain  his  services  perma- 
nently. The  Seto  potter  could  not  bear  to  treat  his 

285 


JAPAN 

teacher  unceremoniously.  He  waited  patiently  until 
a letter,  written  at  his  request  by  the  Abbot  Tenchu, 
rendered  the  necessity  for  his  departure  clear  to  Fuku- 
moto.  On  his  way  back  Tamikichi  called  at  Arita, 
and  there,  for  the  first  time,  saw  the  factories  where 
the  celebrated  enamelled  porcelains  were  produced. 
The  Mikawachi  potters  were  incomparably  skilled  in 
the  preparation  of  pate  and  glazes,  in  the  use  of  the 
modeller’s  and  engraver’s  tool,  and  in  the  application 
of  blue  sous  couverte.  But  they  worked  very  little  in 
vitrifiable  enamels.  Tamikichi  desired  earnestly  to 
master  this  process.  He  employed  a clever  ruse  to 
compass  his  object,  but  the  Arita  potters  had  too 
much  respect  for  their  lives  to  be  incautious.  It  was 
only  when,  paying  a farewell  and  apologetic  visit  to 
his  first  teacher  Gensaku,  in  Amakusa,  Tamikichi  told 
the  whole  story  of  his  labours  and  subterfuges,  that 
Gensaku,  moved  to  admiration,  consented  to  reveal 
the  secrets  of  decorative  enamelling. 

On  the  5th  of  July,  1807,  Tamikichi  returned  to 
Seto,  where  he  was  treated  as  a hero  and  handsomely 
rewarded  by  the  Prince  of  Owari.  In  conjunction 
with  his  father,  Kichizaemon,  he  built  a kiln,  and 
manufactured  a choice  piece  of  porcelain  which  he 
presented  to  his  Prince.  It  would  appear  that  in  this 
first  essay  he  used  materials  brought  from  Amakusa. 
The  work  was  so  excellent  that  Tamikichi  was  offi- 
cially authorised  to  assume  the  patronymic  ‘‘  Kato.” 
It  was  also  ordered  that  his  ware  should  be  distin- 
guished as  Some-tsuke-yaki  (ware  decorated  under  the 
glaze),  the  term  Hon-gyo  (original  industry)  being 
used  to  designate  the  pottery  manufacture.  Kichi- 
zaemon and  Tamikichi  thenceforth  called  themselves 
Kageto  and  Yasukata,  respectively.  The  memory  of 

286 


WARES  OF  OWARI  AND  MINO 

the  latter  is  scarcely  less  revered  in  Owari  than  that 
of  Kato  Shirozaemon. 

Some  time  must  have  elapsed  before  the  Seto  artisans 
were  able  to  employ  local  materials  with  success.  Owari  is 
rich  in  such  materials,  but  they  do  not  occur  in  constant  or 
particularly  simple  forms. 

Mr.  Korschelt  has  analysed  eleven  specimens  of  modern 
Owari  porcelain  masses,  and  found  them  considerably 
different  in  composition.  Here  follow  the  analyses  of  the 
two  varieties  which  contain  the  highest  and  lowest  per- 
centages of  silica : — 


OWARI  PORCELAIN  MASS 


First  Specimen 
Second  Specimen  . 


65.07 

75.48 


25.85 

15.14 


Iron 

Oxide. 

0.55 
o.  10 


Limb,  Mag- 
nesia, ETC. 

6.74 

6.11 


Water. 

1.32 
2.  20 


Into  the  composition  of  all  the  porcelain  masses  ex- 
amined it  was  found  that  there  entered  a clay  called 
Kaeru-me^  obtained  from  Shimo-shinano,  and  a stone  called 
Ishiko,  obtained  from  Ishitobi.  Occasionally  another  stone 
called  Gyaman-ishi  (glass-stone)  is  added : it  is  pure  quartz. 
The  Kaeru-me  clay  differs  very  considerably  in  composition. 
Of  eleven  specimens  analysed,  the  constituents  of  the  two 
which  least  resemble  each  other  are  here  given : — 

« KAERU-ME”  CLAY 

Water. 

I 2.69 
4-37 

Mr.  Korschelt,  however,  in  spite  of  this  great  difference, 
decides  that  the  Kaeru-me  clay  must  be  called  Kaolin,  Now, 
as  this  clay  preponderates  in  the  composition  of  the  Owari 
porcelain  mass,  an  important  distinction  is  immediately 
established  between  the  latter  and  the  Arita  mass,  which 
consists  almost  entirely  of  Petuntse.  It  may  be  interesting 
to  mention  here  that  the  first  specimen  of  Kaeru-me  clay 
mentioned  above  corresponds  very  closely  in  composition 
with  the  Kaolin  used  in  Cornwall  for  the  manufacture  of 

_ 287 


Silica. 

Alumina. 

Iron 

Oxide. 

Limb,  Mag- 
nesia, BTC. 

First  Specimen  . 

. 48.94 

36.48 

0.48 

1.22 

Second  Specimen 

. 81.88 

13.15 

0.39 

0.35 

JAPAN 


porcelain.  On  the  other  hand,  among  the  various  varieties 
of  Kaolin  found  in  Europe,  there  is  not  one  which  contains 
such  a high  percentage  of  silica  as  the  second  of  the  Owari 
specimens.  With  regard  to  the  composition  of  the  Ishiko^ 
two  specimens  out  of  thirteen  analysed  gave  the  following 
results : — 


First  Specimen  . 
Second  Specimen 


ISHIKO 


Silica. 

Alumina. 

Iron 

Oxide. 

Limb,  Magnesia, 
Potash,  etc. 

Water. 

98.61 

0.34 

0-37 

0.29 

0.56 

65-75 

I 8.67 

0.66 

14.89 

0.38 

If  this  Ishiko  be  considered  with  regard  to  the  quantities 
of  felspar,  quartz,  and  clay  substance  which  it  contains,  great 
variations  are  observed,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  following 
table:  — 

ISHIKO  OF  OWARI 


Felspar. 

Quartz. 

Clay  Substance. 

Specimen  i . . . 

. 53.61 

39-70 

5.62 

Specimen  2 . . . 

• 35-24 

49-95 

14-34 

Specimen  3 . . . 

. 60.72 

35-81 

2.02 

Specimen  4 . . . 

. 37.90 

55.02 

5-47 

Specimen  5 . . . 

• 71-36 

24.62 

2-37 

These  differences  are  striking.  It  is  plain  that  the 
Owari  potter,  using  such  a variable  material,  can  never 
be  sure  of  his  results.  This,  indeed,  is  at  present  the 
great  obstacle  to  the  large  development  of  which  his 
trade  is  certainly  capable.  However  uniform  may  be 
the  temperature  of  the  ovens,  the  condition  of  the 
baked  ware  can  never  be  predicted.  Warped  plates, 
distorted  bowls,  and  decrepit  vases  are  just  as  likely  to 
emerge  from  the  furnace  as  perfect  specimens.  Orna- 
mental tiles  might  be  a profitable  product  of  the  Seto 
industry.  In  such  a line  Owari  could  defy  competi- 
tion ; for  where  else  is  art  labour  available  on  terms 
so  easy  that  the  decoration  of  every  tile  might  be  an 
independent  conception  ? But  the  Owari  tiles  are 
practically  valueless.  They  are  too  crooked  to  be 
used  in  any  symmetrical  structure,  and  to  employ  only 

288 


WARES  OF  OWARI  AND  MINO 

those  with  even  surfaces  entails  the  rejection  of  so 
many  that  the  price  becomes  prohibitive.  So  it  is 
with  plaques,  table-tops,  and  other  large,  flat  objects, 
which  the  Seto  workmen  are  fond  of  producing  as 
tours  de  force.  These,  when  they  do  succeed,  are  deco- 
rative and  imposing ; but  the  percentage  of  failures  is 
absurdly  large,  and  the  cost  proportionately  high. 
Difficulties  of  a cognate  nature  have  always  beset  the 
Japanese  keramist.  Some  lack  of  mathematical  regu- 
larity is  so  common  in  his  pieces  that  ignorant  foreign 
amateurs  often  regard  imperfections  of  shape  as  a mark 
of  age  and  excellence.  How  is  such  infatuation  to 
be  described?  It  is  true  that  the  morbidly  rustic 
canons  of  Cha-no-Tu  tolerate  technical  accidents 
which  shock  the  instincts  of  less  romantic  critics. 
Y et,  even  by  these  extravagant  aesthetes,  such  blemishes 
are  not  approved,  but  only  condoned  for  the  sake  of 
some  real  or  imaginary  excellence  in  the  specimen 
they  disfigure.  Apart  from  the  historical  utensils  of 
the  tea-clubs,  an  object  of  art,  to  be  acceptable  in 
Japanese  eyes,  must  before  all  things  possess  correct- 
ness of  form.  A lacquer  box,  however  elaborate  its 
decoration,  however  rich  its  material,  is  fatally  con- 
demned should  its  lid  deviate  by  so  much  as  a hair's 
breadth  from  perfect  fit.  So  in  keramics,  the  highest 
test  of  the  potter’s  skill  was  to  produce  a set  of  rice- 
bowls,  for  example,  of  such  correct  shape  and  uniform 
size  that  their  covers  should  be  absolutely  interchange- 
able. In  fact  a misshapen  vessel  has  always  been  as 
flagrant  an  evidence  of  faulty  technique  in  Japanese 
estimation  as  in  European.  The  potteries  of  Owari, 
with  a curiously  blind  confidence  in  the  balance  of 
chances,  continue  to  use  a greatly  varying  conglom- 
erate of  felspar  and  quartz,  trusting  to  fortunately  ex- 

VOL.  Vlll. 19  289 


JAPAN 

ercised  skill  for  the  result ; and  that,  too,  when  both  of 
these  minerals  are  to  be  found  in  sufficient  purity 
everywhere  throughout  the  province.  A workman 
who  exercises  his  reasoning  faculties  will  naturally  en- 
deavour to  obtain  his  raw  materials  in  a state  of  the 
greatest  purity.  That  the  manifest  advantage  of  such 
a precaution  is  not  appreciated  by  the  artisans  of  Seto 
must  be  attributed  partly  to  ignorance,  and  partly  to 
the  fact  that  they  find  it  much  easier  to  pulverise  the 
conglomerate,  Ishiko,  than  to  pulverise  quartz  and  fel- 
spar separately.  The  opinion  of  Western  experts  does 
not  go  so  far  as  to  recommend  that  Ishiko  should  be 
abandoned  altogether,  in  favour  of  pure  quartz  and 
felspar,  though  some  such  radical  measure  may  appear 
unavoidable  so  long  as  the  manufacturer  is  not  in  a 
position  to  analyse  the  composition  of  his  Ishiko; 
and  having  regard  to  the  conditions  that  exist  in  Jap- 
anese porcelain  districts,  as  well  as  to  the 'miniature 
nature  of  the  factories,  it  would  be  extravagant  to  ex- 
pect that  degree  of  educated  competence  for  the 
present  at  all  events.  Perhaps  the  best  remedy  is  to 
be  found  in  a combination  of  manufacturers,  and  the 
establishment  of  an  institution  to  analyse,  and  if, 
necessary,  to  procure  and  distribute,  the  raw  materials. 
Without  some  measure  of  this  sort,  the  immense  capa- 
bilities of  the  porcelain  industry  in  Owari  must  remain 
virtually  undeveloped.  On  the  other  hand,  such  a 
scheme  will  scarcely  find  favour  until  the  potters  be- 
gin to  appreciate  the  full  value  of  combining  resources 
and  economically  dividing  labour. 

Mr.  Korschelt  says : “ The  district  which  furnishes  the 
so-called  Owari  porcelain  extends  over  parts  of  the  provinces 
of  Owari,  Mikawa,  and  Mino.  The  mountain  range  dividing 
these  provinces  consists  of  granite.  Seto-mura  is  situated 

290 


WARES  OF  OWARI  AND  MINO 

on  the  last  spurs  of  the  range ; low  hills  which,  where  they 
merge  into  the  plains,  are  formed  of  sand  and  convey  the 
impression  of  old  downs.  But  around  Seto-mura  these  hills 
consist  of  Kaeru-me^  partly  covered  with  sand  or  plastic  clay. 
The  latter,  called  Kibushi  by  the  people  of  Seto,  is  used  to 
manufacture  seggars  and  common  ware,  for  which  purposes 
it  is  well  adapted,  since,  beyond  the  addition  of  a little  water, 
it  requires  no  preparation  for  moulding  processes.  They 
told  me  in  Seto  that  the  Kaeru-me  used  there  is  taken  from 
one  place  only,  which  is  of  moderate  extent  and  lies  imme- 
diately behind  the  village.  The  presence  of  water  prevents 
deep  excavations.  But  I also  learned  that  Kaeru-me  is  found 
in  all  the  hills  around  Seto,  in  which  case  the  wealth  of  the 
deposit  is  inexhaustible.  The  Kaeru-me  of  these  districts 
consists  of  clay  and  quartz  granules,  mixed  sometimes  with 
undisintegrated  or  partially  disintegrated  felspar,  as  is  also 
apparent  from  the  considerable  proportion  of  alkali  which 
the  clay  contains.  Mica  laminae  have  not  been  found  either 
in  the  samples  analysed  or  in  the  Kaeru-me  seen  at  Seto. 
The  original  mineral,  therefore,  is  not  an  ordinary  granite,  but 
a granite  free  of  mica,  or  a quartz  porphyry.'*  Mr.  Korschelt 
also  concludes,  from  an  exhaustive  comparative  analysis  of 
European  and  Owari  porcelains,  that  the  Owari  ware  must 
be  regarded  as  a new  variety,  which  finds  no  exact  represen- 
tative in  Europe.  It  contains,  on  the  one  hand,  a larger 
quantity  of  felspar,  and  on  the  other,  a considerably  smaller 
quantity  of  clay  substance,  than  any  European  porcelain. 
Great  differences  exist,  however,  in  the  composition  of 
Owari  porcelains,  the  percentage  of  clay  substance  varying 
from  thirteen  to  forty-three,  and  that  of  felspar  from  thirty- 
four  to  fifty-nine.  The  quantities  of  the  constituents  of 
various  specimens  are  shown  in  the  following  table : — 


CONSTITUENTS  OF  OWARI  PORCELAIN 


No. 

Felspar. 

Clay  Substance. 

Quartz. 

Specimen  l . 

. . . 50.72 

•3-65 

31.63 

Specimen  2 . 

. . . 35.84 

19.17 

43.08 

Specimen  3 . 

. . . 59.20 

*S-3* 

>3-43 

Specimen  4 . 

. . . 41.50 

27.38 

29.30 

Specimen  5 . 

. . . 34.04 

291 

36.78 

26.  10 

JAPAN 

From  the  year  i8io  the  porcelain  industry  of 
Owari  entered  a really  thriving  and  important  phase. 
Tamikichi  had  soon  eighty-five  pupils,  all  men  of  greater 
or  less  traditional  skill.  It  has  been  said  that,  on  the 
eve  of  his  departure  from  Hizen,  he  acquired  a knowl- 
edge of  enamelling  processes.  But  he  did  not  employ 
them  at  Seto.  Decoration  with  blue  under  the  glaze 
was  alone  practised  in  his  time  and  for  some  years 
afterwards.  The  ware  was  praiseworthy  in  some  re- 
spects. Its  pate  was  inferior  in  texture  and  its  glaze 
in  purity  to  the  beautiful  porcelain  of  Hirado,  but  the 
tone  of  the  blue  decoration  was  good,  and  the  designs 
were  not  less  artistically  chosen  than  skilfully  executed. 
Strange  to  say,  good  specimens  of  early  Seto  porcelain 
are  exceedingly  rare  in  Japan.  The  highest  reputa- 
tion was  acquired  by  Kawamoto  Hansuke.  To  him 
is  attributed  (about  1830)  the  first  employment  of  the 
stone  called  gyaman-ko  {vide  supra).  An  artist  of  about 
the  same  period,  Kawamoto  Jihei,  was  remarkable  for 
skill  as  a modeller.  His  work  of  this  nature  shows 
delicacy  and  power.  Some  of  the  earlier  pieces  of 
Owari  porcelain  are  marked  with  the  names  of  facto- 
ries or  makers,  but  the  general  prevalence  of  this  prac- 
tice belongs  rather  to  modern  times.  The  industry 
has  now  assumed  large  dimensions.  A recent  census 
showed  that  there  were  then  296  kilns ; that  they 
produced  porcelain  and  pottery  of  the  average  annual 
value  of  $180,000;  and  that  the  master  potters  num- 
bered 274,  the  artisans  600,  and  the  labourers  1,350. 
The  Kawamoto  factory,  under  the  direction  of  Masu- 
kichi  (direct  descendant  of  Kawamoto  Hansuke)  turns 
out,  perhaps,  the  choicest  pieces.  Other  notables  are 
Kawamoto  Hansuke,  representative,  but  not  direct  de- 
scendant, of  the  house  of  the  celebrated  potter  of  the 

292 


WARES  OF  OWARI  AND  MINO 

same  name  ; Kato  Mokuzayemon,  whose  specialty  lies 
in  colossal  specimens ; Kato  Zenji,  who,  on  the  con- 
trary, turns  out  small  pieces  elaborately  decorated ; 
Kato  Gosuke,  who  has  succeeded  in  obtaining  cdadon 
glaze  of  considerable  merit ; and  Kato  Kansuke,  who 
affects  a species  of  Jiambe  ware  in  which  chocolate- 
coloured  glaze  predominates  (locally  kpown  as  Hagi- 
gusuri).  Of  late  years,  considerable  skill  has  been 
developed  in  the  use  of  colours  other  than  blue  under 
the  glaze.  Pieces  thus  decorated  with  green,  red,  and 
blue  are  turned  out  in  large  quantities  for  purposes 
of  export.  The  four  hamlets  of  Seto  are  indeed  veri- 
table colonies  of  potters.  They  produce  more  porce- 
lain than  any  other  factory  in  Japan.  The  chief  mar- 
ket for  their  ornamental  pieces  is  Western,  from  which 
it  will  be  inferred  that  they  aim  rather  at  brilliant  and 
decorative  effects  than  at  delicacy  and  purity  of  style. 
The  pigment  employed  for  decorative  purposes  by  the 
Seto  potters  when  Tamikichi  inaugurated  the  porce- 
lain industry,  was  native  cobalt.  This  ji-egu^  as  it  was 
called,  existed  in  small  quantities  in  the  province. 
Its  preparation  entailed  labour  and  expense  out  of 
proportion  to  the  results  obtained  with  it.  The  colour 
it  gave  was  lighter,  less  brilliant,  and  not  so  pure  as 
that  of  the  Chinese  potters  during  the  seventeenth 
and  eighteenth  centuries.  About  the  year  1830  the 
Seto  artists  began  to  substitute  Chinese  cobaltiferous 
manganese  [gosii)  for  this  ji-egu,  and  thenceforth  the 
tone  of  their  blue  sous  couverte  became  of  high  charac- 
ter, intense,  full-bodied,  and  brilliant.  From  this  time 
until  about  i860,  the  finest  specimens  of  blue-and- 
white  Owari  porcelain  were  produced.  When,  how- 
ever, the  supply  of  foreign  markets  became  a prime 
object,  European  smalt  came  into  general  use.  It  had 

293 


JAPAN 

the  advantage  of  being  less  than  one-third  of  the  price 
of  the  Chinese  mineral,  and  the  results  obtained  from 
it  were  much  more  uniform.  But  it  gave  such  a 
miserable  colour,  so  shallow,  hard,  and  garish,  that 
after  some  years  Western  taste  rebelled  against  it,  and 
the  potters  reverted  to  the  Chinese  mineral.  They 
use  the  latter  now  with  considerable  success,  not,  of 
course,  in  decorating  common  pieces,  but  only  for 
choice  specimens.  Sometimes  they  employ  native 
cobalt,  and  sometimes  they  mix  it  with  European  smalt. 

One  of  the  most  difficult  feats  of  the  Japanese  pot- 
ter was  to  produce  monochromatic  glaze  of  Mazarin 
blue  (rurt^.  This  could  be  accomplished  only  by 
using  the  best  Chinese  or  Japanese  cobalt.  European 
smalt  gives  a wholly  inferior  colour.  When  to  this 
blue  ground  white  designs  in  high  relief  were  applied, 
a rich  and  charming  result  was  attained.  Such  a 
fashion  of  decoration  was  successfully  followed  by  the 
experts  of  Hizen  and  Owari  in  former  times.  It  was 
generally  used  for  flower-pots,  water-vessels,  and  so 
forth. 

OWARI  PORCELAINS  DECORATED  OVER 
THE  GLAZE 

It  is  difficult  to  say  precisely  when  the  use  of  en- 
amels and  pigments  over  the  glaze  came  into  vogue 
in  Owari.  Certainly  the  potters  of  Tamikichfs 
time  did  not  affect  this  style,  from  which  it  may  be 
inferred  that  the  information  given  by  Gensaku  of 
Amakusa  to  the  Seto  student  was  not  so  full  as  the 
latter’s  annalists  claim.  According  to  some  authori- 
ties, painted  porcelain  was  first  produced  in  Bishiu  at 
the  Inagi-mura  kiln.  This  was  a factory  situated 
about  two  miles  (English)  from  the  castle  of  Inu-yama, 

294 


WARES  OF  OWARI  AND  MINO 

on  the  left  bank  of  the  Kiso  River.  It  was  opened 
in  1752,  and  from  that  time  until  1810  the  various 
faiences  for  which  the  province  was  celebrated  were 
manufactured  there.  These  pieces  are  to  be  identified 
only  by  the  mark  [Inu-yama^  The  ware  was  called 
either  Inuyama-yaki  or  Kenzan-yaki  [Kenzan  being  an- 
other method  of  pronouncing  the  ideographs  inu- 
yama).  In  1810  the  factory  was  moved  to  Maru-yamUy 
east  of  the  castle,  and  the  ware  was  thenceforth  known 
as  Maru-yama-yaki,  About  this  time,  or  a little  later, 
porcelain  began  to  be  included  among  the  Maruyama 
products.  It  was,  however,  decorated  only  with  blue 
under  the  glaze.  Not  till  1835  did  a potter  called 
Michihei  introduce  the  fashion  of  sur-couverte  deco- 
ration. He  took  as  his  model  a peculiarly  rough 
Chinese  porcelain  (known  in  Japan  as  Gosu-aka-e)^ 
which  was  valued  by  the  tea-clubs  on  account  of 
its  bold  designs  and  antique  associations.  This  variety 
of  the  Maru-yama-yaki — or  Inu-yama-yaki^  as  it  is 
popularly  but  erroneously  called  — may  be  described 
as  thick  and  somewhat  clumsy  porcelain,  having  a 
solid,  lustrous  glaze,  and  decorated  with  archaic 
designs  in  blue  sous  couverte^  and  red  ochre,  green, 
and  gold  over  the  glaze.  It  is  not  a manufacture  of 
any  beauty  or  merit,  and  it  may  be  dismissed,  as  may 
also  the  subsequent  story  of  the  Maruyama  factory, 
by  saying  that  the  recent  productions  of  the  latter  are 
faience  of  the  rudest  type. 

Shortly  subsequent  to,  or  perhaps  contemporaneous 
with,  this  new  departure  by  Michihei  at  Maruyama, 
an  expert  called  Kawamoto  Jihei  (better  known  by 
his  mark,  Sosendo)  began  to  employ  vitrifiable  enamels. 
The  style  adopted  bore  some  resemblance,  in  point 
of  design,  to  that  of  the  Nabeshima  factories,  but  the 

295 


JAPAN 

enamels  were  less  brilliant,  and,  the  glaze  lacking  so- 
lidity and  purity,  the  general  effect  was  rather  con- 
fused than  brilliant.  A much  better  conception  of 
the  same  potter  was  to  add  floral  designs  in  green, 
blue,  yellow,  and  light  red  (or  pinkish)  enamels  to 
the  dead-leaf  glaze  of  the  old  Seto  masters.  Another 
variety,  the  manufacture  of  which  dates  from  1840, 
and  it  is  said  to  have  been  conceived  by  the  Prince 
of  Owari  himself,  had  cherry-flower  and  maple-leaf 
enamelled  decoration  on  slate-coloured,  or  grey, 
ground.  At  that  time  the  best  porcelain  decorators 
were  assembled  at  the  Sanko  temple,  and  had  their 
kilns  within  its  enclosure.  Among  them  an  artist  of 
special  note  was  Kanematsu  Shosuke.  Their  pieces 
enjoyed  considerable  popularity.  So  rare,  however, 
are  authenticated  specimens  of  enamelled  Owari 
porcelain  dating  farther  back  than  the  abolition  of 
feudalism  (1868),  that  this  branch  of  the  Seto  manu- 
facture may  be  called  a practically  recent  departure. 
Even  now  the  work  of  decoration  over  the  glaze  can- 
not be  said  to  be  carried  on  in  Owari  itself,  the  fact 
being  that  Owari  porcelain  is  brought  to  Tokyo  and 
Yokohama  and  painted  there.  Advisedly  the  term 
“painted’’  is  here  used  because  in  the  atelier  of  the 
Tokyo  e-fsukeshi  (decorator)  vitrifiable  enamels  are 
almost  unknown  ; he  prefers  pigments,  — dark  brown, 
black,  red,  gold,  green,  pink,  and  yellow.  Sometimes 
the  designs  are  traced  on  white  ground  ; sometimes 
the  ground  itself  is  tinted.  The  pictures  are  often  of 
high  merit,  — beautifully  executed,  cleverly  distributed, 
and  full  of  artistic  instinct.  Outside  Japan  such  work 
could  only  be  executed  at  almost  prohibitive  expense ; 
in  Tokyo  it  is  done  by  artists  who  are  happy  if  they 
earn  half  a dollar  daily.  Pages  would  be  needed  to 

296 


WARES  OF  OWARI  AND  MINO 

convey  an  idea  of  the  wealth  of  fancy  displayed  in  the 
decoration  of  modern  Owari  porcelain.  It  will  suffice, 
however,  to  say  that  the  dominant  feature  of  the  dec- 
oration is  pictorial.  No  other  Japanese  ware  has 
been  so  thoroughly  and  frankly  adapted  to  Western 
tastes.  From  the  monster  pieces  of  blue  and  white 
manufactured  in  Owari  (vases  six  feet  high  and  garden 
pillar-lamps  half  as  high  again  do  not  at  all  perplex 
the  modern  Seto  keramist)  to  the  tiny  coffee-cups 
decorated  in  Tokyo  with  their  delicate  miniatures  of 
birds,  flowers,  insects,  fishes,  and  so  forth,  there  is 
nothing  that  does  not  indicate  the  death  of  the  old 
order.  Seto  and  the  Tokyo  ateliers  constitute  the 
Stoke-upon-Trent  of  Japan,  always  excepting  the  tri- 
umphs of  plastic  art  for  which  the  latter  is  renowned. 

Owari  porcelain  is  easy  to  recognise  by  the  pecu- 
liarly chalky,  soft  appearance  of  its  pate.  This  feature 
is  more  marked  in  modern  than  in  old  ware. 

Since  1868  the  Owari  potters  have  introduced  an 
entirely  novel  method  of  decorating  porcelain,  by 
cloisonne  enamelling.  The  art  of  enamelling  upon 
copper  had  long  been  known  and  practised  in  Japan. 
A knowledge  of  the  process  is  said  to  have  been  ac- 
quired at  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century,  when 
the  patronage  of  the  Taiko  imparted  such  a marked 
impulse  to  all  the  art-industries  of  the  country.  But 
although  the  Japanese  manufactured  cloisonne  enamel 
which  was  not  wanting  in  evidences  of  patient  dex- 
terity, their  work  was  never  really  satisfactory.  They 
were  unable  to  produce  the  beautiful  colours  of  the 
Chinese  experts,  and  their  artistic  instinct  consequently 
impressed  a different  character  upon  their  pieces. 
The  Chinese  applied  his  full-bodied  brilliant  colours 
to  vessels  of  solid  construction  ; the  Japanese  laid  his 

297 


JAPAN 

tracery  of  dull,  impure  blues,  greens,  and  reds  upon 
bowls  and  vases  thin  enough  to  consort  with  their 
weak-toned  decoration.  It  may  be  briefly  stated  that 
before  the  opening  of  the  country  to  foreign  inter- 
course the  art  of  cloisonne  enamelling  never  attained 
much  development  in  Japan.  It  was  practised,  indeed, 
with  sufficient  diligence  to  supply  a considerable 
number  of  specimens  ; but  the  best  of  these  were 
comparatively  unattractive.  No  sooner,*  however,  were 
foreign  markets  thrown  open  than  enamellers,  like  all 
the  other  artist-artisans  of  Japan,  responded  to  this 
new  demand,  and  with  the  assistance  of  imported 
pigments  and  Western  chemists  began  to  produce 
pieces  of  great  beauty  and  brilliancy.  The  use  of 
cloisonne  enamelling  for  porcelain  decoration  was 
among  the  earliest  inspirations  of  the  new  school. 
The  porcelain  was  treated  as  though  it  were  metal. 
Its  surface  was  covered  with  a network  of  copper  cells, 
into  which  enamels  were  filled.  There  was  only  this 
difference  between  the  methods  pursued  with  copper 
and  porcelain : the  enamel  pastes  for  the  decoration 
of  the  latter  were  soft  and  easily  vitrifiable,  so  that 
they  refused  to  respond  to  the  polishing  processes 
subsequently  employed.  Thus  the  result  was  dull 
and  unprepossessing.  It  would  be  difficult  to  conceive 
a wider  departure  from-  the  canons  of  true  art  than 
this  reckless  association  of  hard  metal  and  brittle 
porcelain.  Such  a vitiated  industry  could  never  have 
flourished  under  purely  Japanese  auspices.  Its  only 
patrons  were  Europeans  and  Americans  whose  tastes 
lay  in  the  direction  of  curiosities  rather  than  of  works 
of  art.  Encouraged  by  these  patrons,  the  industry  is 
still  continued,  though  on  a reduced  scale,  in  Nagoya, 
the  chief  town  of  Owari,  by  a company  called  the 

298 


WARES  OF  OWARI  AND  MINO 

Shippb-gaisha.  (The  term  Shipp'd  literally  signifies  ‘‘the 
seven  precious  things/’  In  Japan  it  is  used  also  to 
designate  cloisonne ^ or  champleve,  enamel.) 

Not  by  any  means  on  account  of  its  merits,  but 
solely  for  the  information  of  inexperienced  collectors, 
reference  must  be  made  to  a faience  of'  which  large 
quantities  have  been  manufactured  during  the  last  few 
years  in  Owari.  It  is  a counterfeit  Satsuma  ware, 
and  the  perpetrators  of  the  fraud  have  not  hesitated  to 
import  materials  from  Tsuboya  itself  to  make  the  de- 
ception more  complete.  Medicated  and  begrimed 
specimens  of  this  Bishiui-yaki  are  still  successfully 
palmed  off  on  unsuspecting  foreigners  to  an  incredible 
extent,  and  will  probably  continue  to  find  purchasers 
so  long  as  men  are  sanguine  enough  to  fancy  that  the 
long-since  depleted  curio  market  still  contains  treas- 
ures accessible  to  themselves  alone,  and  so  long  as  the 
disfigurements  of  age  and  the  blemishes  of  wear  find 
people  who  regard  them  as  beauties.  Vases  made  in 
Owari  with  clay  from  Kiushiu  may,  of  course,  be 
quite  as  good  as  anything  produced  in  Satsuma  itself, 
but  in  point  of  fact  they  are  not.  Besides,  Owari 
materials  are  generally  used  in  part,  at  any  rate.  No 
difficulty  ought,  then,  to  be  experienced  in  distinguish- 
ing a specimen,  for  not  only  is  the  Owari  clay  darker 
and  denser  than  that  of  Satsuma,  but  the  ware  and  the 
glaze  are  both  thicker,  while  the  latter  has  a peculiarly 
dull,  viscid  appearance  not  easily  mistaken.  The 
crackle,  too,  is  more  strongly  marked,  and,  though 
fine,  is  often  irregular,  being  for  the  most  part  nea  ly 
imperceptible  on  the  inner  and  under  surfaces  of  t e 
piece.  Finally,  the  decoration  is  so  coarse  that  it  c'  ^s 
not  assort  ill  with  patches  of  grime  and  stains  of  lye 
added  to  simulate  antiquity. 

299 


JAPAN 


SETOSUKE-YAKI 

A commonly  received  tradition  says  that  an  Owari 
potter,  by  name  Setosuke,  having  studied  the  art  of 
porcelain  making  at  Seto,  established  a factory  at  Yok- 
kaichi,  in  the  province  of  Ise,  about  the  year  1770. 
From  what  has  been  written  above,  it  will  be  seen 
that  this  is  impossible,  since  porcelain  was  not  pro- 
duced at  Seto  before  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  Setosuke  was  certainly  an  Owari  expert,  and 
he  did  settle  at  Yokkaichi  about  the  time  mentioned. 
But  the  ware  he  manufactured  was  not  porcelain. 
It  was  faience,  having  a brownish  pate^  covered  with 
diaphanous  craquelk  glaze,  and  ornamented  with 
archaic  designs  in  white  slip,  inlaid  after  the  style  of 
Korea  or  Yatsushiro  (vide  Tatsushiro-yaki).  Setosuke 
produced  also  other  faiences  not  differing  appreciably 
from  those  of  Owari.  At  a subsequent  period  he,  or 
his  son  of  the  same  name,  moved  to  Yedo,  and  there 
manufactured  coarse  porcelain,  decorated  with  colours 
over  the  glaze.  The  designs  were  boldly  executed, 
but  the  ware  was  only  adapted  to  the  rustic  tastes  of 
the  tea-clubs.  The  materials  were  obtained  from 
Owari.  Setosuke  worked  in  Yedo  as  late  as  the  year 
i860. 

WARES  OF  MINO 

In  former  times  no  serious  effort  was  made  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  keramic  productions  of  Owari 
and  those  of  Mino.  The  wares  themselves  did  not 
present  any  features  of  marked  dissimilarity,  and 
moreover  the  pottery  district  of  Mino  being  included 
in  the  fief  of  the  Owari  Princes,  its  products  neces- 
sarily passed  into  the  hands  of  officially  licensed 

30Q 


WARES  OF  OWARI  AND  M I N O 

dealers  of  Nagoya,  twelve  in  number,  by  whom  they 
were  sold  under  the  generic  name’  of  Seto-mono, 
There  is  a record  that  pottery  was  manufactured  in 
Mino  as  far  back  as  the  beginning  of  the  tenth  century 
[Enki  era,  901-922),  and  presented  to  the  Imperial 
palace  in  Kyoto,  but  nothing  is  known  as  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  ware,  and  the  connoisseur  may  fairly 
assume  that  it  did  not  differ  from  the  generally  unin- 
teresting and  worthless  products  of  the  period.  In 
the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  family  of 
Kat5  Shirozaemon  of  Seto  was  represented  by  Kage- 
haru,  of  whose  six  sons  the  second,  Yosobei  Kage- 
mitzu,  moved  (i  573)  to  Kujiri  in  Mino  and  established 
a kiln  at  the  back  of  a hill  on  which  stood  the 
temple  Seianji.  His  principal  manufacture  was  faience 
having  thick  glaze  of  yellowish  white  colour  and  called 
Haku-yaku-de.  A tea-jar  of  this  ware  is  said  to  have 
been  presented  to  the  celebrated  Oda  Nobunaga,  who 
bestowed  on  the  maker  a red  stamp.  Kagemitsu  had 
three  sons,  Shirozaemon  Kagenobu,  Yazaemon  Kage- 
yori,  and  Taroemon  Kagesada.  He  also  employed 
Goroemon  Kagetoyo  (called  afterwards  Shoemon 
Kagetada),  the  second  son  of  his  elder  brother. 
Kagenobu  appears  to  have  been  a more  skilled  potter 
than  his  father.  His  manufactures  attracted  so  much 
attention  that  the  Prince  of  Owari  bestowed  on  him 
the  title  of  Chikugo-no-Kami,  He  also  received  a spe- 
cial order  to  manufacture  faience  for  the  ex-Emperor 
Goyozei,  who  gave  to  the  faience  the  name  Asahi- 
yaki  (morning-sun  ware)  of  Chikugo.  It  continued  to 
be  faience  of  a rustic  character,  its  thick  brownish 
white,  or  yellowish  white,  glaze  somewhat  resembling 
a Korean  product.  About  the  year  1597  Mori  Zene- 
mon,  a fugitive  expert  of  Karatsu,  in  Hizen,  came  to 

301 


JAPAN 

Kujiri,  and  sought  the  hospitality  of  the  Abbot  of 
Seianji.  Hearing  what  this  man  had  to  tell  of  the 
Karatsu  productions,  Kagenobu  visited  that  place,  and 
on  his  return  to  Mino  manufactured  faience  after  the 
Karatsu  style.  Thenceforth  (about  1600)  among  the 
wares  of  both  Mino  and  Owari  craquel'e  variegated 
glazes  are  found,  differing  essentially  from  those 
previously  produced,  but,  though  more  decorative, 
not  superior  or  even  equal  in  respect  of  technical 
qualities  to  the  glazes  of  the  old  Seto-yaki,  Kage- 
nobu employed  every  means  to  guard  the  secrets  of 
his  new  processes,  but  the  experts  of  the  neighbour- 
ing province  were  too  clever  for  him.  They  very 
soon  succeeded  in  spying  out  and  imitating  his  meth- 
ods [vide  Shuntai-yakiy  At  this  period  the  manufac- 
ture of  faience  was  carried  on  at  four  places  in  Mino, 
namely,  Kujiri,  Tajimi,  Kasa-wara,  and  Shimoishi.  A 
small  tax  was  levied  on  the  industry,  and  fiscal  records 
show  that  the  total  number  of  kilns  at  these  four 
places  was  twenty-four. 

Throughout  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  cen- 
turies the  pottery  of  Mino  appears  to  have  undergone 
little  if  any  change,  but  being,  as  has  been  said  above, 
constantly  confounded  with  the  ware  of  Owari,  noth- 
ing can  be  stated  about  it  with  certainty.  Some  doubt 
exists  also  with  regard  to  the  date  of  the  earliest  pro- 
duction of  porcelain  in  Mino.  One  record  gives  the 
year  i8o4,3nd  says  that  the  industry  was  started  by  a 
dealer  of  Osaka,  named  Nishikawaya  Mohei,  who 
came  to  Tajimi  carrying  specimens  of  Hizen  porce- 
lain. It  is  not  impossible  that  the  first  attempt  to 
manufacture  porcelain  took  place  then,  but  it  is 
tolerably  sure  that  nothing  of  any  excellence  was 
produced  until  the  potters  of  the  neighbouring  prov- 

302 


WARES  OF  OWARI  AND  MINO 

ince  (Owari)  had  given  the  initiative  after  the  return 
(1807)  of  Tamikichi  from  Hizen.  'The  materials 
used  by  the  Mino  porcelain  makers  were  identical 
with  those  employed  in  Owari.  From  the  first  the 
decoration  was  confined  almost  exclusively  to  blue 
sous  couverte,  native  cobalt  [kongo\  found  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood, and  Chinese  cobalt  (gosu^j  being  used,  the 
latter  for  all  choice  specimens.  About  the  year  1830 
great  technical  skill  had  been  developed,  especially  at 
the  Ichi-no-kura  factory,  where  was  produced  blue- 
and-white  egg-shell  porcelain  of  wonderful  delicacy. 
Large  pieces  of  this  class  were  not  potted,  the  work- 
men limiting  themselves  chiefly  to  tiny  tea-bowls  or 
wine-cups,  of  which  the  outer  surface  was  generally 
plain,  and  the  inner  decorated  with  designs  of  the 
utmost  simplicity,  exhibiting  that  charming  combina- 
tion of  grace  and  boldness  for  which  Japanese  art  is 
remarkable.  An  outline  sketch  of  Fujiyama,  its  blue 
head  touched  by  golden  clouds  among  which  floats  a 
flock  of  cranes ; or,  it  may  be,  a single  branch  of 
plum-bloom,  peeping  apparently  through  mists  that 
hide  a forest  of  flowers  ; or  again,  the  gable  of  a 
cottage,  its  rustic  eave  overshadowed  by  a pine-bough 
— these  are  among  the  subjects  most  commonly  found 
on  the  egg-shell  porcelain  of  Ichi-no-kura,  and  in 
examining  them  one  is  disposed  to  fancy  that  the 
artist’s  intention  has  been  to  suggest,  not  a permanent 
picture,  but  rather  some  transient  vision  reflected  for 
a moment  on  the  pure  surface  of  the  ware. 

It  was  not  till  the  year  1878  that  decoration  with 
enamels  over  the  glaze  began  to  be  employed  by  the 
Mino  potters.  This  innovation  is  due  to  the  Tajimi 
factory.  The  style  adopted  closely  resembles  the 
modern  ware  of  Kaga,  that  is  to  say,  designs  in  gold 

303 


JAPAN 

on  a red  ground,  or  medallions  containing  miniature 
paintings  of  flowers,  birds,  landscapes,  etc.,  and  sep- 
arated by  solid  spaces  of  red  with  scrolls  and  arabesques 
in  gold.  Considerable  quantities  of  this  ware  find 
their  way  to  China,  probably  for  the  use  of  the  foreign 
residents,  though  it  is  said  that  the  Chinese  themselves 
affect  it.  A wealthy  merchant,  Nishimura  Fuji,  pro- 
motes the  manufacture  and  exports  the  ware. 

In  recent  times  common  porcelain  for  domestic  use 
in  Japan  is  largely  produced  at  Tajimi,  Ichi-no-kura, 
and  other  places  in  Mino.  The  decoration,  blue  sous 
couverte,  is  no  longer  the  work  of  free-hand  draughts- 
men, but  is  accomplished  by  the  aid  of  stencil  paper. 
The  pigment  employed  is  European  smalt.  Economy 
was  always  a feature  of  the  Mino  methods.  It  is 
related  that  the  factories  at  Tajimi  were  largely 
patronised  by  the  Government  in  the  early  part  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  not  so  much  for  the  sake  of 
the  merits  of  their  ware  as  on  account  of  its  compara- 
tive cheapness,  for  the  potters  of  Seto,  trading  on  their 
reputation,  had  gradually  raised  their  prices  to  an 
almost  prohibitive  degree. 

It  should  be  mentioned  that  among  the  modern 
enamelled  porcelains  of  Mino  there  is  a variety 
having  gold  decoration  in  relief  after  the  fashion  of 
late-period  Satsuma  faience. 

Apart  from  the  reputation  it  acquired  in  connection 
with  the  egg-shell  ware  of  Ichi-no-kura,  the  province 
of  Mino  deserves  special  notice  for  the  sake  of  an 
artist  called  Gosuke,  whose  porcelain,  painted  with 
blue  under  the  glaze,  is  in  some  respects  the  best  of 
its  kind  now  produced  in  Japan.  The  colour  is  pure 
and  very  delicate,  the  outlines  are  distinct,  and  the 
glaze  is  lustrous  and  regular. 

304 


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A* 


-ft. 


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i 


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V 


.•  i 


f 


WARES  OF  OWARI  AND  MINO 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  efforts  to  which 
foreign  contact  roused  Japan’s  keramists  is  displayed 
in  the  white  porcelain  of  Tajimi  with  elaborate  mod- 
elling in  high  relief.  Even  the  gossamer  e'gg-shell 
ware  of  Ichi-no-kura  looks  clumsy  beside  it,  and  one 
is  inclined  to  doubt  whether  the  celebrated  flowers 
of  Vincennes  that  deceived  King  Louis  himself  can 
have  been  more  carefully  moulded  than  some  of  the 
specimens  Tajimi  now  furnishes.  Plum-blossoms, 
in  which  neither  leaf,  petal,  nor  pistil  differs  by  a 
hair’s  breadth  from  the  dimensions  prescribed  by 
nature,  or  racemes  of  wistaria  with  every  tendril 
and  foliation  copied  unerringly,  may  not  be  very  fit- 
ting subjects  for  production  in  the  most  fragile  form 
of  an  eminently  fragile  material,  but  as  examples  of 
patience  and  dexterity  they  cannot  fail  to  command 
admiration.  It  would  probably  puzzle  the  best  artists 
of  Europe  to  achieve  any  finer  specimens  of  model- 
ling in  porcelain  than  those  sent  by  the  factory  of 
Tajimi  to  the  first  Japanese  Exhibition  of  native 
manufactures  (1877).  This  Tajimi-yaki  however, 
quite  a modern  production,  and  the  great  difficulty 
of  transport  as  well  as  the  expense  of  manufacture 
have  hitherto  prevented  many  pieces  from  leaving 
the  country.  The  colour  of  the  ware,  too,  is  seldom 
quite  satisfactory.  A perfectly  pure  white  is  difficult 
to  find. 

The  Mino  potteries  are  scarcely  less  important  than 
those  of  Owari  as  a producing  centre.  Their  scope, 
however,  is  different.  For  while  at  Owari  large, 
imposing  specimens  are  manufactured  and  the  tastes 
of  the  foreign  market  are  constantly  consulted,  in 
Mino  small  pieces  for  domestic  use  are  chiefly  turned 
out,  and  the  workmen  look  primarily  to  sales  in  their 

VOL.  VIII.  20  one 


JAPAN 

own  country.  The  total  number  of  kilns  in  Mino 
(Gifu  Prefecture)  at  the  time  of  the  last  census  was 
1 88,  and  the  number  of  potters,  1,017.  The  corre- 
sponding figures  for  Owari  (Aichi  Prefecture)  were 
261  and  1,306. 


Chapter  VII 

MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 
KARATSU-YAKI 

Reference  has  been  made  more  than  once 
in  the  preceding  pages  to  the  ware  of  Ka- 
ratsu.  A port  on  the  northwest  coast  of 
Hizen,  Karatsu,  or  Nagoya,  may  be  said  to 
have  been  the  harbour  of  entry  and  exit  for  the  greater 
part  of  the  traffic  between  Japan,  China,  and  Korea. 
It  was  here  that  the  Taikby  in  1572,  assembled  his  forces 
for  the  Korean  expedition.  More  than  a thousand 
years  ago  the  little  town  possessed  kilns,  and  was  recog- 
nised as  a place  of  some  importance  for  the  sake  of 
its  potteries.  But  there  is  no  evidence  that  in  those 
early  days  the  outcome  of  its  factories  was  in  any  re- 
spect above  the  generally  low  level  of  the  potter's 
industry  throughout  Japan.  The  best  specimens  pro- 
duced at  the  foot  of  Mount  Karatsu  in  the  ninth  and 
tenth  centuries  were  of  coarse  clay,  dark  and  heavy, 
showing  only  an  occasional  trace  of  natural  glaze. 
Their  one  feature  of  interest  is  that  they  were  made 
on  the  wheel.  Early  in  the  eleventh  century,  how- 
ever, some  Korean  potters  are  said  to  have  found  their 
way  to  Karatsu  and  settled  there.  The  date  of  this 
event  is  somewhat  apocryphal.  If  it  be  accepted,  the 
student  is  obliged  to  admit  that  Kato  Shirozaemon 
was  not  the  “ father  of  Japanese  potters,"  and  that, 

307 


JAPAN 

some  two  hundred  years  before  his  visit  to  China,  the 
glazing  processes  which  he  went  to  learn  were  prac- 
tised successfully  at  Karatsu.  For  it  is  certain  that 
the  pieces  attributed  to  the  Korean  settlers  of  the 
eleventh  century  were  glazed,  and  that  their  general 
manufacture  showed  a higher  degree  of  skill  than 
that  attained  by  Shirozaemon  himself  before  his  trip 
to  China.  Evidence  bearing  upon  this  point  is  meagre 
and  inconclusive.  The  probability  is  that  the  age  of 
these  early  specimens  of  Karatsu-yaki  has  been  exag- 
gerated. They  were  called  Oiu-gdrai,  a term  which 
may  mean  Korean  [Korai^  ware  manufactured  either 
in  a distant  [oku^  country  or  at  a remote  period.  If 
the  latter  explanation  be  taken  — and  the  balance  of 
expert  opinion  is  in  favour  of  it  — Oku-gorai-^yaki  may 
be  translated  ‘‘  Ancient  Ware  in  the  Korean  Style.’’ 
It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  dwell  upon  this  point,  or 
indeed  upon  any  point  connected  with  the  Oku-gorau 
The  pottery  has  neither  technical  nor  artistic  merit, 
if  judged  by  modern  standards.  It  chiefly  deserves  to 
be  remembered  as  disputing  with  the  Toshiro-yaki  the 
distinction  of  representing  the  first  artificially-glazed 
faience  of  Japan.  The  Korean  settlers  appear  to  have 
used  imported  material  originally.  Among  the  speci- 
mens identified  as  Oku-gorai  are  some  which  bear  a 
strong  resemblance  to  vessels  of  undoubted  Korean 
manufacture  dating  from  the  ninth  and  tenth  cen- 
turies. Their  pate  is  coarse,  but  of  tolerably  light 
colour  ; their  glaze  semi-diaphanous,  roughly  crackled, 
somewhat  granular  and  of  a patchy  brown  colour,  often 
disfigured  by  blisters.  It  was  soon  found  that  the 
necessary  clay  existed  at  Karatsu,  and  the  Japanese 
artisans,  profiting  by  Korean  instruction,  would  prob- 
ably have  developed  considerable  skill  but  for  lack  of 

308 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

incentive.  Among  the  middle  classes  there  was  little 
if  any  demand  for  utensils  of  faience,  and  it  is  recorded 
that  the  choicest  productions  of  the  Karatsu  potters 
during  the  twelfth  century  were  bowls  for  measuring 
rice,  called  Yone-hakari,  These,  as  well  as. the  Oku- 
goraiy  were  stoved  in  an  inverted  position.  They 
bear,  inside,  three  marks,  traces  of  their  supports  while 
in  the  kiln,  and  the  glaze  runs  towards  the  upper  rim, 
which  it  generally  fails  to  cover.  It  is  thick  glaze, 
of  a reddish  grey  tint,  in  tolerably  good  keeping  with 
the  pdt6y  which  is  dark  slate-colour.  Early  in  the 
thirteenth  century  the  factory  at  Karatsu,  like  those 
in  Owari,  felt  the  influence  of  the  newly  developed 
taste  for  tea,  and  began  to  adopt  the  improvements  in- 
troduced by  Kato  Shirozaemon.  Among  these  the 
most  noteworthy  was  that  the  pieces  were  no  longer 
baked  in  an  inverted  position : their  inner  surface 
ceased  to  be  disfigured  by  marks  of  supports,  and  their 
upper  portions  by  the  rough  edges  of  the  glaze.  These 
easily  detected  differences  distinguish  the  original  out- 
come of  the  Karatsu  kilns  — namely,  the  Oku-gorai 
and  Kome-hakari  or  Yone-hakari  — from  the  pieces 
produced  during  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries 
— namely,  the  Ko-garatsu  (Old  Karatsu)  and  Seto- 
garatsu.  With  regard  to  this  last  term,  it  is  evidently 
derived  from  the  fact  that  after  the  faience  manufac- 
tured at  Seto  by  Kato  Shirozaemon  began  to  grow 
famous,  his  methods  were  adopted  by  the  potters  of 
Karatsu.  The  truth  is  that  the  potters  of  Karatsu 
were  chiefly  imitators.  Their  best  efforts  being  in- 
tended for  the  tea-clubs,  they  took  as  models  the  rusty 
, wares  of  Korea,  Annam,  Luzon,  etc.,  or  the  choicer 
but  still  sombre  products  of  the  Seto  kilns. 

Things  remained  thus  at  Karatsu  until  the  close  of 

309 


JAPAN 

the  sixteenth  century,  when  the  Japanese  expeditionary 
force  landed  there  (1598)  on  its  return  from  Korea. 
The  Taiko  had  died  four  years  previously,  but  his 
orders  had  been  obeyed.  The  Japanese  generals 
brought  back  with  them  a large  number  of  Korean 
keramists.  Of  these,  some  settled  at  Karastu,  where 
their  skill  soon  made  itself  felt  at  the  potteries.  The 
pieces  produced  under  their  instruction  were  called 
Chosen-garatsUy  or  “ Korean  Karatsu,”  Chosen  being 
the  name  by  which  Korea  was  then  known.  The 
pate  of  these  specimens  is  better  manipulated  than  that 
of  any  previous  Karatsu-yakiy  but,  though  hard,  is 
coarse  and  very  dark  in  colour.  Two  glazes  are  al- 
most invariably  used,  — the  one  rriahogany,  the  other 
dark  cream-colour.  These  glazes  show  considerable 
lustre.  The  former  generally  constitutes  the  body- 
glaze,  while  the  latter  is  used  to  cover  small  portions 
of  the  surface.  The  effect  of  the  combination  is 
pleasing.  Another,  though  very  rare,  variety  has  iron- 
red  metallic  spots,  and  is  partially  covered  with  a curi- 
ous creamy  glaze,  tinged  with  red.  Good  specimens 
of  Chbsen-garatsu  have  always  been  prized  by  Japanese 
amateurs. 

From  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century 
the  Karatsu  ware  begins  to  assume  a more  decorative 
character.  The  Korean  potters  appear  to  have  fol- 
lowed the  example  of  their  Chosa  contemporaries 
[vide  Satsuma-yaki).  They  began  to  produce  jiambe 
glaze,  — chiefly  mahogany  or  dark  brown  with  splashes 
of  bluish  white  or  clouds  of  blue  and  green.  These 
are  not  uninteresting.  Certainly  they  are  far  superior 
to  the  thick,  grey  granular  glazes,  coarsely  crackled 
and  often  blistered,  of  the  earlier  Karatsu-yaki.  But 
they  do  not  show  either  the  lustre  or  the  solidity  of 

310 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

the  Chosa  jlambe  faience,  and  they  are  almost  invari- 
ably disfigured  by  technical  defects. 

Another  variety  of  faience  manufactured  at  Karatsu, 
from  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century,  was  directly 
copied  from  a Korean  stone- ware  called  E-Goraiy  or 
^‘painted  Korean.”  Pottery  of  this  class  waS' known 
as  E-garatsu.  It  may  be  described  as  grey  or  brown- 
ish ware,  sometimes  having  a tinge  of  green,  with 
archaic  designs  boldly  executed  in  reddish  brown  or 
black  under  the  glaze. 

The  Karatsu  potters  never  marked  their  pieces,  and 
have  left  no  personal  records.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century  they  were  taken  under  the 
patronage  of  their  feudal  chief,  who,  like  the  other 
nobles  of  Japan,  began  to  adopt  the  practice  of  send- 
ing to  the  Court  of  the  Shogun  in  Yedo,  or  to  his 
brother  peers,  specimens  of  the  best  products  of  his 
fief.  Pieces  manufactured  for  this  special  purpose 
were  called  Kenjo-garatsUy  or  Presentation  Karatsu.” 
Among  them  are  cups,  tea-jars,  etc.,  covered  with  thin 
glaze,  generally  of  dusky  green  hue,  and  having  under 
the  glaze  simple  designs  formed  by  incising  the  pate 
and  filling  the  incisions  with  white  clay.  These  are 
tolerably  tasteful.  They  bear  a close  resemblance  to 
the  faience  manufactured  at  Yatsushiro  in  the  same 
province.  But  the  best  variety  of  the  Kenjo-garatsu 
is  a stone-ware  the  white  or  grey  glaze  of  which  is 
so  manipulated  that  it  assumes  the  form  of  little 
globules,  remarkably  distinct  and  regular.  Specimens 
of  this  are  rare.  The  idea  is  said  to  have  been  de- 
rived from  a species  of  Chinese  porcelain,  made  early 
in  the  Ming  period,  the  surface  of  which  was  granu- 
lated like  the  skin  of  an  orange.  But  in  the  Chinese 
ware  the  glaze  is  continuous,  while  in  the  Japanese 


JAPAN 

each  globule  appears  to  be,  and  in  some  cases  actually 
is,  distinct  from  its  neighbour.  This  result  was  pro- 
duced by  using  for  the  phe  and  the  glaze  clays  with 
different  indices  of  expansion.  Careful  manipulation 
of  materials  and  management  of  temperature  were 
necessary  to  achieve  success,  but  the  difficulties  were 
not  very  great.  The  commonest  species  of  Karatsu- 
yaki  may  be  described  as  faience  made  of  dark,  toler- 
ably fine  clay,  over  which  is  run  thick  buff-coloured 
glaze,  coarsely  crackled,  and  generally  showing  ir- 
regular patches  of  white  towards  the  edges.  It  may 
be  worth  mentioning  that  the  only  authenticated 
specimens  of  Karatsu  ware  dating  farther  back  than 
the  seventeenth  century  are  bowls  and  cups.  The 
first  tea-jars  were  made  by  a potter  called  Gombei, 
who  lived  about  the  year  1630.  With  the  exception 
of  this  man,  the  only  experts  of  Karatsu  whose  names 
have  descended  to  posterity  are  Yojibei,  Taroemon, 
and  the  latter’s  son,  Kiheiji.  These  flourished  during 
the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

Among  the  miscellaneous,  or  minor,  wares  of  Japan, 
the  first  place  is  here  given  to  the  Karatsu-yaki,  not 
on  account  of  its  excellence,  but  because  the  factories 
at  that  place  rank  first  in  point  of  antiquity.  So  long, 
indeed,  had  Karatsu  been  associated  with  the  keramic 
industry  that  in  old  times  the  inhabitants  of  Hizen 
were  wont  to  speak  of  pottery  generically  as  Karatsu- 
monoy  just  as  the  people  of  Japan  apply  to  it  to-day 
the  name  Seto-mono.  At  present  the  term  Hizen-yaki 
conveys,  to  ninety-nine  persons  out  of  every  hundred, 
a signification  entirely  unconnected  with  the  produc- 
tions of  any  factory  in  the  province  other  than  those 
in  Arita  and  its  environs. 

A modern  Karatsu  expert  called  Nakazato  Keizo 

312 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

is  distinguished  for  his  skill  in  modelling  figures  of 
men  and  animals.  He  ceased  to  work,  some  five  or 
six  years  ago,  owing  to  partial  loss  of  sight. 


WARES  OF  CHIKUZEN 
^akatori-yaki 

The  reader  will  not  have  failed  to  perceive  how 
largely  the  keramic  industry  of  Japan  was  influenced 
by  the  advent  of  the  Korean  potters  who  came  over 
in  the  train  of  the  Taiko  s generals.  Of  these  im- 
ported experts  not  the  least  successful,  from  a tech- 
nical point  of  view,  were  those  who  settled  at 
Takatori,  in  Chikuzen,  a province  lying  on  the  north 
of  Hizen,  and  forming,  in  the  early  days  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  the  fief  of  a nobleman,  Kuroda  Naga- 
masa,  whose  relations  with  the  Court  at  Kyoto,  and 
subsequently  with  that  at  Yedo,  were  particularly 
close.  Of  the  exact  number  of  Koreans  who  were 
located  at  Takatori  there  is  no  record,  but  the  .names 
of  two,  Shinkuro  and  Hachizo,  have  been  preserved 
as  masters  of  the  art.  The  latter  is  said  to  have  been 
among  the  prisoners  taken  by  the  chief  of  Chikuzen, 
and  the  former  to  have  been  specially  selected  by 
Kato  Kiyomasa,  general-in-chief  of  the  expedition,  as 
a potter  already  renowned  in  Korea.  The  names 
Shinkuro  and  Hachizo  were,  of  course,  given  to  them 
in  Japan.  What  they  were  originally  called  tradition 
does  not  say,  but  it  is  on  record  that  both  were  natives 
of  a Korean  village  known  by  the  Japanese  as  Ido. 
There  is  no  question  that  the  potter’s  industry  had 
been  practised  in  Chikuzen  long  before  the  coming 
of  these  men.  Ancient  annals  mention  ware  produced 

313 


JAPAN 

there  as  early  as  the  ninth  century,  but  it  was  probably 
unglazed  pottery,  without  any  claim  to  public  favour. 
That  the  resources  of  the  place  were  meagre  has  been 
inferred  from  the  fact  that  Shinkuro  and  Hachizo, 
during  the  early  years  of  their  residence  at  Takatori, 
used  imported  materials  only.  But  it  seems  to  have 
been  a part  of  the  Taiko  s order  to  his  generals  that 
not  workmen  alone  but  also  matter  to  work  with 
should  be  brought  from  Korea.  Chikuzen  certainly 
did  not  want  for  fine  clays,  as  was  proved  by  the 
pieces  subsequently  manufactured  there.  The  first 
productions  of  Shinkuro  and  Hachizo  at  Takatori 
were  in  the  pure  Korean  style,  the  shapes  and  orna- 
mentation being  archaic  in  character,  the  pate  coarse,  , 
the  glaze  thin  and  diaphanous.  Shinkuro  did  not 
long  remain  a captive.  He  died  almost  immediately 
after  the  lord  of  the  province,  Kuroda  Nagamasa. 
The  latter’s  son,  Tadayuki,  showed  himself  a liberal 
patron  of  art.  It  happened  at  this  time  that  the  cele- 
brated dilettante  Kobori  Masakazu,  feudal  chief  of 
Enshiu,  interested  himself  in  the  work  of  the  Korean 
captives,  and  to  him,  at  Fushimi,  near  Kyoto,  Tada- 
yuki sent  Hachizo  and  the  latter’s  son,  Hachiroemon, 
for  instruction.  Even  this  temporary  association  with 
the  great  amateur  would  probably  have  been  sufficient 
to  establish  the  prestige  of  the  Takatori  ware.  But, 
in  addition,  Hachizo  and  his  son  were  shortly  after- 
wards assisted  by  a workman  of  greater  skill  and  finer 
artistic  instincts  than  themselves.  This  was  Igarashi 
Jizaemon,  a native  of  Hizen,  who  had  devoted  several 
years  to  acquiring  and  practising  the  processes  of  the 
Seto  potters  of  Owari.  He  appears  to  have  been  a 
man  of  independent  means,  wandering  from  place  to 
place  in  his  capacity  of  amateur  artist.  Happening 

314 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

to  visit  Chikuzen,  he  w'as  speedily  taken  under  Tada- 
yuki’s  protection,  and  appointed,  conjointly  with 
Hachizo,  to  superintend  the  factory  at  Takatori. 
Previously  to  this  event  the  Takatori-yaki  potters, 
under  the  direction  of  Hachizo  and  Shinkuro,  had 
applied  only  one  coat  of  glaze  to  their  pieces.  They 
made  no  attempt  to  copy  the  multiple  glazes  of  the 
Seto  artists.  But  with  Igarashi’s  advent  a new  era 
commenced,  and  the  T^akatori-yaki  very  soon  rose  to 
conspicuous  eminence  among  Japanese  ware  for  the 
lustre,  variety,  and  general  beauty  of  its  glazes.  The 
renowned  Tao-pien-yao^  or  “ transmutation  ware,”  of 
China  is  said  to  have  been  at  first  taken  as  a model, 
but  it  is  plain  that  the  Japanese  experts  depended  on 
their  own  methods  of  mixing  colouring  materials 
rather  than  on  partially  accidental  effects  of  oxidisa- 
tion. In  point  of  colour  a characteristic  difference 
between  the  two  wares  is  that,  while  some  shade  of 
blue  enters  largely  into  the  composition  of  the  com- 
mon varieties  of  Chinese  variegated  glazes,  the  domi- 
nant tinge  of  the  Japanese  resembles  dark  amber. 
Very  rich  transparent  brown,  almost  verging  upon 
claret-colour,  is  also  found,  and  occasionally  the 
‘‘iron-dust”  glaze  [Tungshu-hwa)  of  China  was 
copied  successfully.  The  pate  of  all  these  better  sorts 
was  fine  pipe-clay,  sometimes  not  unlikely  to  be  con- 
founded with  the  clay  of  the  Middle  Kingdom.  The 
potters  confined  themselves  to  working  for  the  tea- 
clubs,  and  achieved  such  renown  in  this  branch  of 
their  art  that  the  great  Kobori  Masakazu  (1645)  him- 
self selected  some  of  their  best  productions,  and  gave 
them  names  indicative  of  their  peculiar  merits ; as, 
for  example,  “ dyed  river  ” [Some-gawa)  ; “ cross- 
fence” i^Ogaku)  ; “autumn  evening”  i^Aki-no-yo)^ 

3H 


JAPAN 

and  so  forth.  It  is  scarcely  possible  to  overestimate 
the  value  attaching  to  pieces  distinguished  by  the 
approval  of  such  an  amateur.  Their  weight  in  gold 
proved  often  but  a fraction  of  their  worth  in  the  eyes 
of  subsequent  generations,  for  they  became  the  repre- 
sentatives, not  merely  of  names  great  in  the  history 
of  keramics,  but  also  of  a creed  reverenced  by  every 
student  of  art  in  succeeding  centuries.  The  T^akatori- 
yaki  is  one  of  the  few  Japanese  wares  that  may  be 
mistaken  for  a Chinese  production.  ' The  lustre  and 
softness  of  its  glaze  bear  comparison  with  the  chefs- 
d' oeuvre  of  the  Middle  Kingdom.  Unfortunately  the 
choicest  specimens  are  tiny,  insignificant  tea-jars. 

Hachizo  and  his  descendants  are  regarded  as  the 
chief  potters  of  Takatori.  The  genealogy  of  the 
family  is  as  follows  : — 

1.  Hachizo,  founder  of  the  family. 

2.  Hachiroemon,  son  of  Hachizo;  died  1665. 

3.  Hachiroemon,  son  of  the  above;  died  1712. 

4.  Tohachi,  son  of  Hachiroemon  (the  second);  died  1752. 

5.  Tokichi,  son  of  Tohachi ; died  1785. 

6.  Tsunekichi,  son  of  Tokichi;  died  1815. 

7.  Kokichi,  son  of  Tsunekichi ; died  1854. 

8.  Koichi,  son  of  Kokichi ; now  living. 

The  history  of  the  Takatori  potters  shows  that  they 
frequently  changed  the  site  of  their  factory,  doubtless 
in  search  of  good  clay.  Thus  in  1614,  they  were  at 
Iso;  in  1630,  at  Shirahata-yama ; in  1662,  at  Tsu- 
tsumi-mura  ; a little  later,  at  Tajima-mura  and  Shimo- 
keigo-mura.  Finally,  in  1708,  they  moved  to 
Shikahara-mura  (Stag-plain  village)  — always,  of 
course,  keeping  within  the  province  of  Chikuzen  — 
and  there,  establishing  a factory  on  the  slope  of 
Ueno-yama,  manufactured  censers,  teacups,  water- 

316 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

vessels,  incense-boxes,  etc.,  so  skilfully  and  in  such 
quantities  that  the  place  ultimately  received  the  name 
of  Higashi-sara-yama,  or  Eastern  Plate-Hill.  A few 
years  later  (1716),  another  factory  was  established  in 
the  neighbourhood,  under  thenameof  Nishi-sara-yama 
(Western  Plate-Hill).  The  productions  of  the  latter 
were  coarser  and  destined  for  commoner  use  than  those 
of  the  former.  These  various  changes  of  locality 
may  be  traced,  with  more  or  less  accuracy,  in  the  pate 
of  the  ware.  Thus,  the  amateur  may  accept  it  as  a 
rule  that  the  clay  of  the  early  period  (1600—1660) 
Takatori-yaki  is  of  a light  grey  colour  (called  by  the 
Japanese  nezumi-iro,  or  mouse-colour)  ; that  of  the 
middle  period  (1660—1700),  nearly  white;  that  of 
the  third  period  ( 1700— 1 800),  reddish,  and  sometimes 
purplish.  It  will  not,  however,  be  safe  to  conclude 
that  every  specimen  having  a nearly  white  pate  dates 
from  a period  prior  to  1700.  All  that  can  be  con- 
fidently asserted  is  that  such  a pate  does  not  belong  to 
an  era  earlier  than  1660.  Three  varieties  of  clay 
were  used  by  the  Takatori  potters.  They  are  all 
found  in  Chikuzen,  and  are  named  after  the  places 
where  they  exist.  No  attempt  has  yet  been  made  to 
analyse  them,  nor  is  there  any  record  of  the  propor- 
tions in  which  they  were  mixed.  Considering  the 
qualities  of  the  Takatori-yaki,  the  notice  it  has  hitherto 
received  at  the  hands  of  Western  commentators  is 
singularly  meagre.  Among  specimens  produced  dur- 
ing the  third  period  of  manufacture  are  to  be  found 
cleverly  modelled  figures  of  mythological  beings  and 
animals,  covered  with  lustrous  variegated  glazes,  the 
general  colours  being  grey  or  buff,  with  tints  of  green, 
chocolate  brown,  and  sometimes  blue.  These  have 
always  been  favourites  with  buyers  of  bric-a-brac, 

317 


JAPAN 

and  many  of  them  are  doubtless  to  be  found  in 
Western  collections.  The  first  manufacturer  of  such 
pieces  is  said  to  have  been  a priest  who  (circa  1615) 
modelled  statuettes  of  Buddhistic  deities.  It  may  be 
mentioned  that  a popular  distinction  is  made  in  Japan 
between  the  earliest  specimens  of  Takatori  ware  and 
those  manufactured  subsequent  to  the  instruction  re- 
ceived from  Kobori  Masakazu  (born  1576,  died 
1645)  : the  former  are  called  Ko-Takatori  (old  Taka- 
tori) ; the  latter  Enshiu-Takatori, 

There  are  at  present  three  kilns  at  which  the  manu- 
facture of  Takatori-yaki  is  carried  on.  The  first  is  at 
Koishibara.  It  is  under  the  direction  of  Yanase  Jim- 
bei,  Nakagawa  Buhei,  and  Hayakawa  Kabei.  Of 
these  potters  the  two  first  are  the  descendants  of  Kambei 
and  Kahei  respectively,  who  flourished  in  the  early  part 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  productions  of  the 
Koishibara  factory  are  chiefly  imitations  of  the  old 
Kutani-yaki,  to  which,  however,  they  are  much  in- 
ferior. The  second  factory  is  at  the  same  place.  It 
is  managed  by  Takatori  Shigeki — whose  ancestor  of 
the  same  name  commenced  the  potter’s  business  in 
1791 — and  Yanase  Shunzo,  whose  family  has  been 
at  the  business  since  1752.  These  experts  copy  the 
style  of  the  old  Takatori  ware,  but  produce  also  white 
glazes,  thick  and  lustrous.  The  third  factory  is  at 
Momo-mura.  It  was  opened  by  Sasaki  Yozo,  a Kyoto 
artist,  who  came  to  Kaga  by  official  invitation  in  1856, 
and  remained  there  until  1880.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Sawada  Shunzan,  who  now  produces  inferior  faience  for 
daily  use. 

Sohichi-yaki 

Kuroda  Nagamasa,  feudal  chief  of  Chikuzen,  ap- 
pears to  have  been  a dilettante  of  unusual  earnestness. 

318 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

The  story  of  a tea-jar,  known  among  Japanese  ama- 
teurs as  Funrin  Cha-tsuboy  illustrates  his  love  of  objects 
of  art.  There  lived  in  Osaka  a wealthy  brewer  of 
sakcy  named  Sotan,  a native  of  Chikuzen.  He  was  in 
the  habit  of  sending  a clerk  to  China,  from  time  to 
time,  to  transact  business.  This  clerk  fell  in  love 
with  a Chinese  courtesan  — in  what  part  of  China 
there  is  no  record  — and  having  squandered  a large 
sum  of  money  belonging  to  his  master,  found  himself 
barely  able  to  make  his  way  home.  At  parting,  the 
woman  presented  to  him  a tea-jar  reputed  to  be  of 
great  value.  The  clerk,  in  turn,  presented  the  tea-jar 
to  Sotan,  who  was  so  delighted  with  the  specimen 
that  he  forgave  his  employe’s  misdeeds  and  restored 
him  to  his  former  office.  By-and-by  Kuroda  Naga- 
masa  saw  the  tea-jar,  and  would  fain  have  become  its 
possessor ; but  the  brewer  refused  to  part  with  it. 
Subsequently  the  Taiko  also  tried  to  obtain  it.  Sotan, 
however,  remained  obstinate.  In  the  spring  of  the 
following  year  the  brewer  gave  a tea  reunion,  at 
which  the  Taiko  and  Kuroda  were  both  present. 
During  the  entertainment  Hideyoshi,  beckoning  to 
his  host,  left  the  room,  followed  by  Kuroda.  Sotan 
seems  to  have  known  what  was  coming,  for  when  the 
Taiko  accosted  him,  saying,  ‘‘  Of  all  your  treasures, 
Sotan,  there  is  one  only  that  I covet,”  he  at  once  drew 
the  tea-jar  from  his  bosom,  and  replied : ‘‘  Here  is 

the  object  of  your  thoughts,  my  lord.  Since  it  has 
attracted  such  honourable  attention,  I will  present  it 
to  my  chief  Kuroda.”  It  is  related  that  Kuroda  had 
a triple  case  made  for  the  tea-jar,  and  that  he  ap- 
pointed fifteen  officials,  all  of  whom  were  held  re- 
sponsible for  its  safety.  That  the  keramic  industry 
of  Chikuzen  should  have  flourished  under  the  patron- 

319 


JAPAN 

age  of  such  an  enthusiast,  is  not  wonderful.  A few 
years  after  this  event,  Kuroda,  hearing  that  a tile- 
maker  of  remarkable  skill  lived  in  the  adjoining 
province  of  Bungo,  invited  him  to  Chikuzen.  -.This 
man’s  name  was  Buroku.  His  grandson,  Sohichi, 
developed  great  plastic  ability,  and  gave  his  name  to 
a ware  little  known  in  modern  times,  but  well  de- 
serving of  notice.  It  was  buff  stone-ware,  the  pate  as. 
.fine  as  pipe-clay  and  exceedingly  hard,  and  the  glaze ' 
very  thin  and  diaphanous  with  a greenish  tinge.  Many 
specimens  are  not  glazed  at  all,  their  surface  being 
merely  polished,  after  the  style  of  the  old  Fukakusa- 
yaki.  In  this  Sbhichi-yaki  excellent  examples  of 
plastic  work  are  to  be  found,  as  masks,  censers,  alcove 
ornaments,  and  so  forth.  At  a later  period  of  the 
manufacture  — probably  from  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century  — pigments  were  used  for  decora- 
tive purposes,  especially  in  the  manufacture  of  figures 
with  drapery  elaborately  painted  in  various  colours. 
’Dispute  of  the  ware  is.  not  uniform,  and  sometimes 
it  is  comparatively  soft  and  chalky.  • From;  the 
time  of  Sohichi  until  that  of  his- seventh  descendant 
(about  1830),  the  family  had. the  honour  of  sending  a 
special  parcel  of  ware  every  year  to  the  Imperial  Court 
in  Kyoto.  Tradition  says  that  while  this  ware  was  in 
process  of  manufacture,  a mauve  curtain,  embroidered 
with  the  Imperial  coat  of  arms,  was  drawn  round  the 
factory,  which  was  in  the  town  of  Fukuoka,  and  no 
one  below  the  rank  of  Councillor  of  State  was  per- 
mitted to  pass  on.  horseback. . . It  was  also  perma- 
nently forbidden  that  any  one  residing  within  two  cho 
(240  yards)  of  the  factory  should  use  the  ideograph  so 
(initial  character  of  Sohichi)  to  form  his  name. 

There  is  now  a porcelain  factory  at  Tsukushi,  in 

320  • 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

the  same  province  of  Chikuzen.  Blue-and-white 
ware  of  fair  quality  is  produced,  but  it  scarcely  rises 
to  the  level  of  an  art  manufacture. 

WARES  OF  HIGO  (KUMAMOTO  PREFECTURE) 

The  principal  province  of  Kiushiu  is  Higo,  which 
lies  to  the  south  of  Hizen.  The  feudal  chief  of  this 
province  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  was  the 
renowned  warrior  Kato  Kiyomasa,  who  led  the  expe- 
dition of  1592  to  Korea.  Returning  in  1598,  he 
brought  with  him  two  Korean  potters,  and  directed 
them  to  open  a factory  at  the  foot  of  a hill  called 
Koshiro,  near  Minamiseki.  The  ware  produced 
[Koshtro-yakt)  was  faience,  or  stone- ware,  having 
jiambe  glazes  resembling  but  inferior  to  those  of  the 
Chosa-yaki  (vide  Satsuma-yaki),  and  evidently  copied 
from  Chinese  models.  The  factory  was  patronised 
by  the  feudal  chiefs  of  the  province.  In  1670  an 
order  was  issued  that  specimens  of  the  Koshiro-yaki 
should  be  regularly  furnished  to  the  house  of  Hoso- 
kawa.  Subsequently,  at  an  unrecorded  date,  the 
potters  moved  to  the  Hori-ike  park  in  Minamiseki. 
The  productions  were  thenceforth  known  as  Shofu- 
yaki.  The  present  owner  of  the  factory  is  Noda  Ma- 
tashichi,  who  carries  on  a considerable  trade  in  coarse 
articles  of  daily  use. 

Another  factory  was  established  (1765)  at  Honto- 
baba  by  Okabe  Tokuzo.  Faience  was  manufactured 
there,  having  reddish  brown  and  mahogany  glaze. 

But  the  ware  on  which  the  keramic  reputation  of 
the  province  chiefly  depends  is  the  Tatsushiro-yaki, 
Among  the  Koreans  brought  to  Japan  by  Kato  Kyo- 
masa  was  Sonkai,  said  to  be  a son  of  the  governor  of 
Fusan,  in  that  country.  Sonkai  resided  for  a short 

VOL.  VIII. 21  J2I 


JAPAN 

time  at  Karatsu.  Then,  either  of  his  own  wish  in- 
spired by  what  he  saw  at  the  Karatsu  factories,  or  in 
obedience  to  Kato  Kiyomasa’s  commands,  he  revisited 
Korea  and  fully  studied  the  potter’s  art.  Returning 
to  Japan  in  1602,  he  was  invited  to  Agano,  in  the 
province  of  Buzen,  by  Hosokawa  Tadaoki.  Estab- 
lishing a factory  there,  he  changed  his  name  to 
Agano  Kizo.  In  1631  the  province  of  Higo  became 
the  fief  of  the  Hosokawa  family,  and  Tadatoshi,  the 
then  representative  of  the  family,  moved  his  residence 
to  Yatsushiro  in  that  province.  Thither  he  was  fol- 
lowed by  Kizo  and  two  of  his  sons.  They  settled  at 
Toyobara,  and  opened  a factory  where  two  varieties 
of  ware  were  produced.  The  first  was  faience  re- 
sembling the  Koshiro-yaki  mentioned  above ; its  pate 
being  reddish  brown,  and  its  glaze  mahogany  with 
splashes,  or  clouds,  of  blue,  black,  and  buff.  The 
second,  to  which  the  name  Tatsushiro-yaki  has  ever 
since  been  confined,  had  similar  p&te^  but  more  care- 
fully manipulated  and  of  finer  texture,  and  diaph- 
anous pearl-grey  or  warm  brown  glaze,  uniform, 
lustrous,  and  finely  crackled.  The  decoration,  which 
consisted  generally  of  storks  flying  among  clouds,  or 
of  simple  combinations  of  lines  and  diapers,  was  in- 
cised in  the  pate^  the  incisions  being  filled  with  white 
slip  and  the  glazing  material  run  over  the  whole. 
This,  one  of  the  most  delicate  and  aesthetic  of  all 
Japanese  faiences,  was  a copy  of  the  Korean  ware 
known  in  Japan  as  TJnkaku-de  (clouds  and  storks  pat- 
tern), to  which,  however,  it  is  decidedly  superior  in 
delicacy  and  beauty  of  finish.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  neither  the  Tatsushiro-yaki  nor  its  Korean  pro- 
genitor compares  favourably  with  the  Chinese  faience 
which  is  the  original  of  both.  Another  variety  of 

322 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

this  ware  imitates  the  Korean  Hakime,  or  ‘‘  streaked 
pottery,  in  which  the  white  engraved  design  is  in- 
tended to  represent  the  marks  [me)  of  a coarse  brush 
[haki)y  the  idea  being  to  convey  an  idea  of  boldness 
and  rapidity  of  finish.  A third  variety,  copied  from 
the  Mishima  faience  of  Korea,  has  a pattern  of  vertical 
cord-marks,  which,  from  the  resemblance  they  bear 
to  the  lines  of  closely  written  characters  in  the  old 
almanack  of  Mishima  (a  large  town  on  the  Tokaido), 
suggested  the  name  of  the  ware.  The  decoration  of 
the  Tatsushiro-yaki  is  practically  confined  to  white, 
incised  designs.  Rarely,  and  then  only  in  very  choice 
pieces,  is  there  any  addition  of  blue  under  the  glaze. 

Sonkai,  or  Agano  Kiz5,  having  been  enrolled  among 
the  vassals  of  the  chief  of  Higo,  his  family  received  a 
perpetual  annuity.  He  died  in  1646.  One  of  his  sons 
had  remained  at  Agano,  in  Busen ; another,  Chubei, 
succeeded  to  the  charge  of  the  Toyobara  factory,  and 
a third,  Tokubei,  called  also  Tbshiro,  established  a 
branch  factory.  About  the  year  1715  a grandson  of 
Kizo,  by  name  Tarosuke,  founded  another  branch 
of  the  family  with  a separate  kiln.  For  the  sake  of 
clearness  it  will  be  well  to  note  briefly  the  various 
artists  of  the  three  factories : — 

FAMILY  OF  AGANO  KIZO 

1.  Kizo;  died  1646. 

2.  Chubei,  art  name  Hosan  ; died  (about)  1680. 

3.  Chubei,  art  name  Ipp5;  died  (about)  1730. 

4.  Chubei;  died  (about)  1770. 

5.  Chuzo ; died  (about)  1810. 

6.  Chubei;  died  (about)  1850. 

7.  Saibei,  afterwards  called  Shuzo,  art  name  Hosan; 

still  living,  but  not  working. 

8.  Teizo,  the  present  representative. 

323 


JAPAN 

FAMILY  OF  AGANO  TOKUBEI,  OR  TOSHIRO 

I.  Tokubei,  or  Toshiro  ; died  (about)  1690. 

The  representative  of  each  generation  of  this  family 
seems  to  have  taken  the  name  Toshiro,  until  the  sixth 
(about  1840),  an  expert  of  considerable  reputation  called 
Yahachiro.  His  son,  Tdshiro,  was  the  father  of  the  present 
representative,  Jirokichi. 

FAMILY  OF  AGANO  TOROSUKE 

I.  Torosuke;  died  (about)  1760.  It  is  said  that  this 
artist  travelled  to  Yedo,  and  learned  the  method  of 
manufacturing  Raku  faience. 

There  is  no  record  of  the  history  of  this  family,  except 
that  the  representative  of  the  fifth  generation,  named  Gentaro, 
was  counted  an  expert  of  great  skill  and  flourished  in  the 
Tempo  era  (1830-1843).  The  present  representative  is 
Agano  Yaichiro. 

In  recent  years  the  manufacture  of  Yatsushiro 
faience,  after  a period  of  comparative  cessation,  has 
been  actively  revived.  The  best  specimens  now  pro- 
duced are  carefully  and  artistically  made,  but  fall 
short  of  the  old  ware  in  lustre  and  delicacy.  Six 
varieties  of  clay  are  used  to  form  the  pate  and  glaze. 
They  are  all  found  within  the  boundaries  of  Higo, 
and  are  named  after  the  localities  where  they  exist. 

As  is  the  case  with  nearly  all  Japanese  wares,  good 
specimens  of  early  Tatsushiro-yaki  are  generally  small 
and  insignificant.  Vases  are  rarely,  if  ever,  found : 
they  belong  to  a comparatively  late  period  of  manu- 
facture. Censers,  cups,  bowls,  and  small  dishes 
make  up  the  total  of  procurable  examples.  Decora- 
tion over  the  glaze  was  never  employed : such  an 
addition  indicates  a piece  destined  for  the  foreign 
market.  Within  the  past  twenty  years  many  modern 

324 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

specimens  have  been  obtained  by  Western  collectors 
and  are  regarded  with  admiration.  But  the  fault  of 
these  modern  pieces  is  want  of  lustre  and  softness. 
The  body  colour  is  cold  grey,  not  offering  sufficient 
contrast  to  the  white  encaustic  design.  In  other 
respects  the  ware  is  carefully  manipulated  and  deci- 
dedly attractive.  Its  pate  shows  a distinctly  redder 
tinge  and  is  softer  than  the  pate  of  former  times.  A 
variety  frequently  seen  now  has  its  encaustic  decoration 
disposed  in  white  vertical  stripes  running  from  the 
top  to  the  bottom  of  the  specimen.  This  is  a repro- 
duction of  the  ‘^corduroy’’  type  often  affected  by 
Satsuma  potters.  Indeed,  the  amateur  may  easily 
mistake  occasional  specimens  of  so-called  “ Mishima  ’’ 
Satsuma  for  Yatsushiro  ware,  more  especially  as  the 
Higo  potters  sometimes  employed  clay  obtained  in 
Satsuma.  Old  examples  of  Yatsushiro-yaki  are  usually 
without  marks. 

There  is  a porcelain  factory  also  in  the  province 
of  Higo.  It  was  established  at  Oda,  in  the  Udo 
district,  by  order  of  the  Hosokawa  chief,  in  1791, 
and  under  his  patronage  the  industry  attained  some 
importance.  Porcelain  stone  was  found  at  Shirato, 
in  the  neighbourhood,  but  an  examination  of  the 
ware  shows  that  the  celebrated  Amakusa  stone  was 
also  employed  ; as  might  indeed  be  expected,  seeing 
that  the  Udo  district  lies  on  the  coast  opposite  the 
island  of  Amakusa.  Specimens  of  Higo  porcelain  are 
rarely  met  with,  and  unless  they  bear  the  mark  of 
the  factory,  they  can  scarcely  be  distinguished  from 
Arita  ware.  Vitrifiable  enamels  do  not  seem  to  have 
been  used,  the  decoration  being  confined  to  blue  sous 
couverte.  Some  pieces  are  white,  with  reticulated  or 
moulded  designs.  The  industry  still  exists  on  a 

325 


JAPAN 

small  scale  in  the  hands  of  the  potters  Tanaka  Sakai, 
Matsumura  Jisaburo,  Nagao  Teigoro,  and  others. 

FUKAKUSA-YAKI 

In  the  suburbs  of  Kyoto,  distant  about  five  (English) 
miles  from  the  city,  lies  the  village  of  Fushimi,  cele- 
brated as  the  site  of  the  Palace  of  Pleasure  {Juraku)^ 
built  by  the  order  of  the  Taikb,  and  by  his  order 
also  levelled  with  the  ground  after  the  intrigues  of 
its  first  inmate,  Hidetsugu.  Near  this  village,  at  a 
place  called  Fukakusa,  there  was  a fine  pipe-clay  that 
gave  peculiarly  close,  hard  pate.  For  the  sake  of  this 
clay  the  village  was  occasionally  chosen  by  potters  as 
a place  of  residence.  It  has  been  shown  that  the 
“ father  of  potters,”  Kato  Shirozaemon,  attempted  to 
manufacture  porcelain  there  in  the  thirteenth  century, 
and  that  Soshiro,  who  flourished  in  the  time  of  the 
Talk'd  (1590),  produced  with  Fukakusa  clay  unglazed 
pottery  of  considerable  beauty  which  he  decorated  with 
black  and  gold  lacquer,  receiving  from  the  Talk'd  the 
title  of  merit  Tenka  Icht.  The  records  tell  nothing  of 
Soshiro’s  family.  If  any  of  his  descendants  inherited 
his  art,  their  names  have  not  survived.  Contempo- 
rary with  him  was  an  expert  called  Hirata  Heiemon, 
who  opened  a factory  in  Kawara-machi,  Fushimi,  in 
the  year  1593.  By  this  man  and  his  posterity  the 
manufacture  of  the  Fukakusa-yaki  was  virtually  mo- 
nopolised. The  factory  was  moved  to  Sukikai-bashi, 
in  the  same  village,  in  1642,  and  there  it  still  remains, 
its  present  owner,  Heiemon,  being  ninth  in  descent 
from  the  founder.  At  the  outset  the  productions 
were  confined  to  unglazed  pottery,  which  owed  its 
merit  entirely  to  quality  of  pate  and  accuracy  of  finish. 
Articles  such  as  fire-boxes,  tea-urns,  ash-holders, 

326 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

etc.  were  chiefly  manufactured.  By  Heiemon’s 
son,  Koemon,  however,  a new  departure  was  made. 
This  artist  possessed  rare  skill  as  a modeller.  His 
statuettes  attracted  so  much  attention  at  the  time  that 
he  received  the  soubriquet  of  ‘‘Ningyo-ya  Koemon” 
(Koemon  the  puppet-maker),  and  subsequent  genera- 
tions came  to  regard  him  as  the  real  originator  of  this 
style  of  work  in  Japan.  Very  few  genuine  specimens 
of  Koemon’s  manufacture  survive,  but  these  suffice  to 
show  that  he  possessed  rare  ability  as  a modeller. 
His  pieces  are  not  glazed,  nor  did  he  use  vitrifiable 
enamels.  The  decoration  of  his  statuettes  was  effected 
by  painting  in  distemper  — green,  slate  blue,  and  red 
being  the  principal  colours  employed  — with  the 
addition  of  gold.  Since  his  time  the  modelling  of 
mythical  figures  — men,  birds,  and  animals  — has 
always  been  a specialty  with  the  Fukakusa  potters. 
After  Koemon’s  death,  however,  they  abandoned  his 
distemper  colours  — except  in  rare  instances  — and 
used  a thin,  diaphanous  glaze.  Whether  by  design  or 
by  accident,  their  pieces  thus  assumed  the  appearance 
of  wood-carvings,  the  brownish  pate  bearing  a close 
resemblance  to  wood  slightly  discoloured  by  age. 
During  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  and  early 
part  of  the  eighteenth  centuries,  two  of  the  Sukikai- 
bashi  artists,  Rokuro  and  Sozaburo,  established  a rep- 
utation that  still  survives.  Of  their  successors  none 
were  specially  distinguished,  though  specimens  of 
their  handicraft  often  show  great  mastery  of  the 
plastic  art. 

SHIKASE-YAMA-YAKI 

Before  leaving  the  province  of  Yamashiro,  mention 
may  be  made  of  the  Shikase-yama-yakt,  a faience  pro- 

327 


JAPAN 

duced  at  a place  of  the  same  name  in  the  Sagara  dis- 
trict of  Yamashiro.  The  manufacture  was  commenced 
in  1827  by  Morimoto  Suke-emon,  in  consequence  of 
the  discovery  of  potter’s  clay  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
his  house.  He  invited  an  expert  from  Kyoto,  and 
produced  faience  to  supply  local  demand.  The  ware 
resembled  that  of  Awata,  but  was  coarser  and  not  so 
highly  decorated.  Twenty  years  later  ( 1 847),  Ichigo, 
feudal  chief  of  the  district,  obtained  the  services  of  a 
keramist  called  Ogawa  Riuzaemon.  ' In  the  hands  of 
this  potter  and  his  son,  Ogawa  Kyuemon,  the  S/ii- 
kase-yama-yaki  acquired  considerable  reputation.  It 
deserves  no  special  description,  being  scarcely  dis- 
tinguishable from  the  ordinary  faience  of  Kyoto. 
Ogawa  Kyuemon’s  skill  in  connection  with  the  con- 
struction of  kilns  has  already  been  spoken  of  {vide  last 
paragraph  of  Chapter  VIII). 

BIZEN-YAKI 

Bizen  is  a province  on  the  coast  of  the  Inland  Sea. 
Tradition  assigns  a very  early  date  to  the  origin  of 
keramic  manufacture  in  the  province,  and  says  that 
it  was  one  of  the  places  where  clay  substitutes  for 
human  sacrifices  were  produced  in  the  opening  cen- 
turies of  the  Christian  era.  Authentic  records, 
however,  do  not  go  back  farther  than  the  Oei  era 
( I 394~i427)when  three  kilns,  called  respectively  the 
southern  kiln,  the  northern  kiln,  and  the  western  kiln, 
were  constructed  at  the  foot  of  the  hills  Kayabara- 
yama,  Fure-zan,  and  Ikuo-zan,  all  in  the  Imbe  district. 
The  ware  manufactured  was  very  hard,  coarse,  red 
stone-ware,  unglazed,  or  having  only  a natural  glaze, 
and  designed  for  rough  use  in  farmhouses.  The 
materials  were  found  in  the  neighbourhood.  Owing 

328 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

to  the  great  capacity  of  the  kilns  and  the  refractory 
nature  of  the  clay,  a very  high  temperature  had  to  be 
applied  : the  furnaces  \vere  kept  alight  from  twenty- 
three  to  thirty  days.  Towards  the  close  of  the  six- 
teenth century  the  manufacture  underwent  considerable 
improvement,  probably  owing  to  the  encouragement 
of  the  Taiko,  who  visited  the  factories  in  1583,  when 
on  a campaign  in  the  central  provinces.  There  were 
then  six  master-keramists  at  work,  — Terami,  Kane- 
shige,  Tongu,  Oba,  and  two  representatives  of  the 
Mori  family.  Under  them  were  employed  forty-six 
potters.  The  ware  was  known  as  Imhe-yaki  or  Ko- 
Bizen  (old  Bizen).  Previously  to  the  time  of  the 
TaikOy  large  vases  for  religious  festivals,  jars  for  keep- 
ing and  germinating  agricultural  seeds,  and  other 
common  utensils  were  chiefly  made.  But  from  the 
end  of  the  sixteenth  century  ware  for  the  use  of  the 
tea-clubs  — as  tea-jars,  censers,  ewers,  and  teapots  — 
began  to  be  manufactured.  To  this  term  the  Bizen-yaki 
properly  applies.  At  first  it  differed  from  its  prede- 
cessor only  in  more  careful  technique.  The  pate  was 
finer  and  better  manipulated,  and  the  general  work- 
manship superior.  By-and-by,  however,  the  patches 
of  accidental  glazing  that  appeared  occasionally  on 
specimens  of  the  Ko-Bizen-yaki  were  replaced  by  a 
regular  coating  of  thin,  diaphanous  glaze.  There 
can  be  little  doubt  that  the  motive  of  the  potters  was 
to  imitate  the  red  Boccaro  pottery  of  China,  but  their 
success  in  this  respect  was  only  partial.  About  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  character  of  the 
choicest  Bizen-yaki  underwent  another  change.  It 
became  slate-coloured,  or  bluish  brown  faience,  with 
pate  fine  as  pipe-clay  but  very  hard.  In  this  Ao-Bizen 
(blue  Bizen),  as  it  is  called,  figures  of  mythical 

329 


JAPAN 

beings  and  animals,  as  well  as  birds,  fishes,  and  so  forth, 
were  modelled  with  a degree  of  plastic  ability  that 
can  scarcely  be  spoken  of  in  too  high  terms.  Repre- 
sentative specimens  are  truly  admirable,  every  line 
true,  every  contour  faithful : they  will  bear  comparison 
with  similar  works  produced  in  any  country  at  any 
age.  There  is  nothing  to  show  exactly  at  what  time 
or  under  what  circumstances  this  most  remarkable 
plastic  skill  was  developed,  but  its  first  exercise  does 
not  appear  to  date  farther  back  than- the  second  half 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  the  best  examples 
were  probably  produced  at  a still  later  epoch.  Cocks 
in  the  attitude  of  challenging  or  crowing,  sparrows, 
quails,  mythical  animals,  the  Shichi-fuku-jin,  the 
Shishi,  and  so  forth,  were  favourite  subjects  for  the 
modeller ; he  generally  managed  to  represent  them 
instinct  with  life  and  of  unerringly  correct  form.  In 
rare  cases  specimens  of  this  character  were  intended 
to  serve  as  alcove  ornaments  (oki-mono\  but  the  great 
majority  of  them  were  censers.  It  is  said  that  the 
bluish  grey,  or  slate  colour,  of  the  pate  was  obtained 
in  the  furnace  by  skilful  management  of  temperature. 
Whether  such  was  the  fact,  or  whether  the  colour 
resulted  from  using  special  materials,  must  remain  for 
the  present  undecided,  since  the  Ao-Bizen  ware  is  no 
longer  produced.  The  records  of  the  factories  say 
that,  for  choice  ware,  earth  found  in  the  Imbe  district 
was  mixed,  after  careful  preparation,  with  fine  parti- 
cles of  mud  from  a pond  in  Hatada-mura,  and  that 
the  latter,  with  a proportion  of  lixiviated  ash  of  the 
Goma  [Sesamum  orientalis^,  served  for  glazing  material. 
The  baking,  even  of  these  smaller  articles,  occupied 
thirteen  days,  and  much  depended  on  proper  manage- 
ment of  temperature.  It  is  not  to  be  understood  that 

330 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

the  best  productions  of  the  Bizen  factories  are  con- 
fined to  the  Ao-Bizen  type.  Many  beautiful  speci- 
mens have  the  red  pate  generally  but  erroneously 
supposed  to  be  characteristic  of  all  Bizen-yaki.  Some- 
times the  glaze  applied  to  this  latter  variety  bears 
such  a close  resemblance  in  colour  and  metallic  sheen 
to  the  finest  golden-tinted  bronze  that  the  two  may 
readily  be  confounded.  As  a general  rule  this  charm- 
ing glaze,  unique  in  Oriental  keramics,  belongs  to  the 
productions  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  terms  Ko-Bizen-yaki  and  Imbe-yaki  are  prop- 
erly interchangeable,  but  by  some  connoisseurs  the 
former  is  applied  to  unglazed,  the  latter  to  glazed, 
specimens.  The  most  valued  pieces  of  old  Bizen 
ware  are  those  stamped  with  the  shape  of  a new 
moon  [Mikka-zukt) , a waning  moon  [Kae-zuki'),  or 
the  ideographs  Koku-bei  [vide  Marks  and  Seals),  while 
another  less  esteemed  variety  bears  the  delineation  of 
a cherry  blossom.  The  last  mark  is  found  also  on 
comparatively  modern  pieces.  During  the  period  of 
art  renaissance,  towards  the  close  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  Kyoto  amateurs  appear  to  have  visited  Bizen 
and  manufactured  tea-utensils  there.  In  the  collec- 
tions of  modern  virtuosi  pieces  are  preserved  bearing 
marks  attributed  to  Sohaku,  Shimbei,  Shogen,  and 
Moemon,  who  flourished  between  1573  1614. 

Another  variety  of  Bizen-yaki,  found  in  ware  of 
various  epochs  from  the  sixteenth  to  the  nineteenth 
century,  is  distinguished  by  the  term  Hi-dasuki,  Ta- 
suki  is  the  name  of  a cord  used  to  confine  the  long 
sleeves  of  the  Japanese  dress  when  the  wearer  wishes  to 
employ  his  arms  freely.  It  passes  round  the  shoulders 
and  is  crossed  behind  them.  Hi-dasuki  thus  signifies 
a kiln  [hi)  mark  resembling  the  tasuki.  Such  mark- 

331 


JAPAN 

ing  was  obtained  originally  by  tying  a straw  rope 
round  the  piece  before  placing  it  in  the  oven.  When 
the  rope  was  consumed  there  remained  on  the  surface 
of  the  pottery  an  appearance  of  mottling  or  irregular 
lines  of  red.  This  crude  method  and  its  rude  results 
suggest  a fair  idea  of  the  old  Bizen-yakt  s qualifications. 
A connoisseur's  taste  must  have  been  specially  educated 
when  he  consents  to  pay  ten  or  twenty  guineas  for  a 
water-holder  that  might  easily  be  mistaken  for  a sec- 
tion of  a drain-pipe,  partially  blackened  by  lire  and 
ornamented  with  patches  or  streaks  of  brick-colour. 
Later  specimens  of  the  Hi-dasuki  variety  have  close 
grey  pate  covered  with  exceedingly  thin,  diaphanous 
glaze.  In  these  the  red  mottling,  from  which  they 
derive  their  name,  is  evidently  produced  by  some 
method  different  from  that  described  above. 

A rare  variety  of  Bizen  ware  has  greyish  or  almost 
white  pate  with  diaphanous  glaze  of  the  same  colour. 
This  ware  is  known  as  Kankoku-yaki  or  Shira-Bizen 
(white  Bizen),  having  been  manufactured  at  a place 
called  Kankoku.  Sometimes  its  decorative  effect  is 
heightened  by  the  addition  of  red  and  gold.  Numer- 
ous specimens  of  it  have  been  produced  within  the 
past  ten  years  and  sold  as  old  pieces  to  amateurs  who 
esteem  Shira-Bizen  for  the  sake  of  its  rarity  rather 
than  its  artistic  merits. 

Information  as  to  the  Bizen  potters  is  quite  incom- 
mensurate with  their  merits,  for  without  doubt  choice 
specimens  of  their  work  during  the  eighteenth  and 
the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  are  among  the 
very  highest  achievements  of  Japanese  plastic  art.  At 
present  the  chief  potter  at  Imbe  is  Mori  Riuzb.  It 
has  been  seen  that  when  the  Taiko  visited  Bizen 
(1583),  two  representatives  of  the  Mori  family  were 

332 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

among  the  master-potters.  More  than  a century  later, 
the  head  of  the  family  was  Mori  Yosoemon  (died 
about  1775).  His  son,  Mori  Goroemon  (died  about 
1810),  and  his  grandsons,  Mori  Moemon  (died  about 
i860),  and  Mori  Kakuji  (died  1853),  were  distin- 
guished experts.  Kakuji  was  succeeded  by  his  son, 
Mori  Kotaro  (died  1882),  and  the  latter’s  son,  Mori 
Riuzo,  now  carries  on  the  trade.  During  the  Temmei 
era  (1781—1788),  an  expert  called  Kimura  Shohachi 
distinguished  himself  by  manufacturing  sake  bottles 
decorated  with  designs  in  coloured  slip  (blue,  red,  and 
white).  Kimura  Hei-ichiro  and  Kimura  Mitsutaro, 
descendants  of  this  artist,  share  with  Mori  Riuzo  the 
reputation  of  producing  the  best  modern  Bizen  ware. 
Another  scion  of  the  Mori  family,  Mori  Hikoichiro, 
has  a factory  in  the  neighbouring  district  of  Mushia- 
keo.  This  artist  was  for  some  time  associated  with 
Makuzu,  of  Ota  (near  Yokohama).  He  stamps  his 
pieces  “ Mushiake.”  None  of  these  potters  produce 
anything  comparable  with  the  wares  of  their  prede- 
cessors. The  admirable  plastic  skill  of  the  latter  and 
their  technical  methods  seem  to  be  beyond  the  range 
of  the  modern  Bizen  keramist. 


SHIDORO-YAKI 

A ware  of  which  some  specimens  bear  a close 
resemblance  to  the  old  faience  of  Seto,  while  others 
may  easily  be  mistaken  for  Bizen-yaki  (described 
above),  is  the  Shidoro-yaki,  manufactured  in  the 
province  of  Totomi  (Enshiu),  which  now  forms  part 
of  Shizuoka  Prefecture.  The  first  pottery  produced 
in  this  province  is  attributed  to  Gyogi  Bosatsu  (eighth 
century),  but  there  is  no  authentic  record  of  the 

333 


JAPAN 

existence  of  any  kilns  before  the  Dai-ei  era  (1521- 
1527).  A factory  was  then  established  at  Shidoro- 
mura,  and  subsequently  (about  1720)  removed  to 
Yoko-oka-mura.  The  productions  were  of  coarse, 
rough  character  — red  stone-ware  covered  with  thin, 
uneven  glaze  of  light  brown-ochre  colour  — until  the 
close  of  the  sixteenth  century,  when  some  experts  from 
Seto  (in  Owari)  came  to  the  province.  Specimens 
attributed  to  this  period  (1590-1670)  show  plainly 
that  the  Seto  style  was  taken  as  a model.  Lustrous 
black  and  golden-brown  glazes,  laid  on  in  two  or 
three  coats,  replaced  the  thin  brown-ochre  glaze 
previously  employed,  and  tea-utensils  of  the  most 
approved  shapes  made  their  appearance.  A little  later 
on  (1680),  the  influence  of  Kobori  Masakazu,  lord 
of  Enshiu,  produced  its  effects.  The  brown-ochre 
glaze  re-appeared,  now,  however,  variegated  by 
patches  of  yellow ; and  very  dark  green  was  added 
to  the  colours  already  existing.  The  clay  was  coarse 
and  of  dull  red  tinge,  differing  but  little  from  that 
found  in  the  inferior  varieties  of  Imbe  (Bizen)  ware. 
In  1720,  as  has  been  said,  the  factory  was  moved 
from  the  district  of  Shidoro  to  that  of  Yoko-oka,  and 
from  that  time  the  pieces  were  for  the  most  part 
stamped  with  the  characters  [Shidoro-yakiy  The 
manufacture,  no  longer  confined  to  the  old  grooves, 
was  gradually  modified,  till  in  late  years  claret  coloured 
and  green  glazes,  after  the  so-called  Cochin-China 
fashion,  were  produced,  and  finally  even  the  Ky5t6 
school  was  represented  by  small  pieces  with  whii^  pate 
and  decoration  in  gold  and  coloured  enamels.  An- 
other variety,  called  Karafu,  was  obtained  by  mixing 
charcoal  ashes  or  powdered  pebbles  with  the  glazing 
material,  the  result  being  a dull  mottled  surface  more 

334 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

curious  than  beautiful.  Probably,  however,  the  only 
specimens  of  Shidoro-yaki  likely  to  interest  Western 
collectors  are  the  figure-subjects,  some  of  which  ex- 
hibit considerable  plastic  skill  and  quaintness  of  fancy. 
The  amateur  is  likely  to  find  a certain  difficulty  in 
distinguishing  these  from  similarly  modelled  speci- 
mens of  middle-period  Bizen  ware.  The  most  easily 
identified  differences  are  that  the  pate  of  the  Shidoro- 
yaki  is  whiter  than  that  of  the  Bizen-yaki,  and  that 
the  glaze  of  the  former  is  generally  lustreless  dun- 
colour,  resembling  the  skin  of  a ripe  pear,  whereas 
the  glaze  of  the  Bizen  ware  is  diaphanous  and  nearly 
colourless.  The  surface  of  Shidoro  stone-ware  is 
usually  mottled  or  roughly  speckled  with  black. 
The  manufacture  is  now  carried  on  in  Shidoro-mura 
by  Suzuki  Kanehiro.  No  record  of  former  potters 
has  been  preserved. 


WARES  OF  IZUMO  (SHIMANE  PREFECTURE) 

Few  Japanese  wares  are  more  deservedly  appreciated 
by  Western  buyers  than  the  modern  Izumo-yaki,  man- 
ufactured in  the  province  of  Izumo.  It  is  faience, 
having  light  grey,  close  pate,  and  yellow  or  straw- 
coloured  glaze,  generally  without  crackle.  The  dec- 
oration is  in  gold  and  green  enamel.  The  designs 
are  usually  formal,  and  do  not  show  remarkable  skill 
of  execution,  doubtless  owing  to  the  difficulty  of 
painting  elaborately  or  delicately  on  a tender,  wax- 
like yellow  glaze  such  as  that  of  the  Izumo-yaki, 
The  manufacture  of  glazed  pottery  in  Izumo  com- 
menced during  the  Keian  era  (1648-1651),  but  no 
success  was  attained  until,  some  twenty-five  years 
later  (about  1676),  the  feudal  chief  of  the  province, 

335 


JAPAN 

procured  the  services  of  a potter  named  Gombei 
Shigiyoshi  a native  of  Nagato . (Choshu),  where  he 
had  studied  the  art  under  a Korean,  Korai-zaemon. 
This  man  set  up  a kiln  at  Rakuzan,  in  the  Nishika- 
watsu  district,  and  using  materials  partly  imported 
from  Nagato  and  partly  found  in  the  neighbourhood 
manufactured  a faience  which  received  the  name  of 
Rakuzan-yakL  Intended  for  the  use  of  the  tea-clubs,- 
and  faithful,  for  the  most  part,  to  Korean  models, 
this  Rakuzan-y aki  had  few  features  of  interest.  Oc- 
casionally, however,  a specimen  is  found  that  recalls 
the  work' of  Seto  experts.  ' Gombei’s  reputation,  from 
an  artistic  point  of  view,  is  founded  on  a rich  brown, 
or  chocolate,  glaze  powdered  with  golden  speckles, 
which  he  is  said  to  have  introduced.  This  is  an  imi- 
tation of  the  beautiful  nasbiji  (pear-skin-ground)  seen 
in  aventurine  lacquer.  It  was  esteemed  one  of  the 
chefs-d' ceuvre  of  the  Rakuzan  factory,  and  justly  so, 
for  chocolate  glaze  clouded  with  amber  and  flecked 
with  glittering  dust  was  undoubtedly  a beautiful  con- 
ception. If  Gombei  introduced  this  glaze,  he  cannot 
be  said  to- have  invented  it.  Its  prototype  is  to  be 
found  among  the  productions  of  the  Chinese  keram- 
ists  during  the  Ming  period.  Further,  there  is -even 
reason  to  doubt  whether  he  introduced  it,  some  virtuosi 
holding  that  it  was  first  introduced  nearly  a century 
later  at  the  Fujina  factory  [vide  inf ra^,  Gombei  died 
in  1694,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  pupil  Kada  Han- 
roku,  who  had  come  with  him  from  Nagato.  On 
Kata’s  death  (about-  1720),  the  Rakuzan  factory 
ceased  to  work. 

A factory  of  later  date  but  greater  repute  ,was 
established  at  Fujina  (in  the  same  province)  by 
Funaki  Yajibei,  in  1764.  ' According  to  local  records, 

3-36  ■ . 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

the  Funaki  family  settled  at  Fujina  in  1624,  and  had 
already  been  engaged  in  the  pottery  manufacture  for 
several  generations.  If  the  same  source  of  information 
be  followed,  the  production  of  pottery  in  Izumo  dates 
from  an  era  as  remote  as  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth 
century.  But  nothing  is  known  of  the  wares  of  those 
early  days,  and  no  interest  attaches  to  the  story  of  the 
Fujina  kiln  prior  to  1764,  when,  as  has  been  said, 
Funaki  Yajibei  worked  there.  Yajibei  himself  does 
not  seem  to  have  possessed  any  special  aptitude.  The 
reputation  acquired  by  his  factory  is  due,  rather,  to 
the  patronage  of  Narusato,  feudal  chief  of  the 
province.  This  nobleman,  who  after  his  retirement 
from  active  life  took  the  name  by  which  he  is  best 
known, — Fumai, — was  one  of  Japan’s  most  celebrated 
virtuosi.  He  added  to  the  fashions  of  the  tea-clubs  a 
style  elaborated  by  himself,  and  hence  called  Unshiu-riu 
(Unshiu  is  another  name  for  Izumo),  and  his  patron- 
age of  the  fine  arts  was  invariably  liberal  and  intelli- 
gent. During  the  Horeki  era  (1751-1763)  Fumai 
engaged  a potter  of  repute,  Tsuchiya  Zenshiro,  and 
appointed  him  keramic  instructor  in  Izumo.  In 
1772  this  rnan  came  to  Fujina,  and  there,  with  the 
assistance  of  Funaki  Yajibei,  began  to  manufacture 
faience  that  soon  acquired  a considerable  reputation. 
There  were  four  varieties.  The  first  had  chocolate- 
brown  or  mahogany  glaze  resembling  that  of  Seto, 
but  thinner  and  without  any  amber  tints  ; the  second 
was  distinguished  by  the  aventurine  glaze,  mentioned 
above  in  connection  with  the  Rakuzan  factory  ; the 
third  had  soft,  wax-like  yellow  glaze  with  decoration 
in  gold,  red,  and  green,  now  the  characteristic  ware 
of  the  province  — and  the  fourth  was  greyish  (some- 
times reddish  white)  faience  with  exceedingly  delicate 

VO^.  VIII. 22  <707 


JAPAN 

and  elaborate  decoration  in  coloured  enamels.  The 
pate  of  all  these  varieties  was  close  in  texture  and  of 
greyish-white  colour  easily  mistaken  for  the  pate  of 
Awata-yaki  {vide  Kyoto),  — and  their  glazes  showed 
thorough  mastery  of  technical  processes.  From 
Fumai’s  time  the  Fujina-yaki — or,  speaking  more 
broadly,  the  Izumo-yaki  — was  placed  among  the 
choice  faiences  of  Japan.  The  manufacture  was 
carried  on  with  success  until  i860,  when  it  began  to 
languish,  and  came  almost  to  an  end  about  five  years 
later  (1865).  The  principal  potters  were  of  the  lin- 
eage of  Tsuchiya  Zenshiro,  Funaki  Yajibei,  and  Sawa 
Tasuke. 

THE  TSUCHIYA  FAMILY 

1.  Tsuchiya  Zenshiro ; died  1806. 

2.  Tsuchiya  Zenshiro ; died  1829. 

3.  Tsuchiya  Zenshiro ; died  1854. 

4.  Tsuchiya  Zenshiro ; died  1876. 

THE  FUNAKI  FAMILY 

1.  Funaki  Yajibei ; died  1773. 

2.  Funaki  Shinzo ; died  1803. 

3.  Funaki  Kakusaburo ; died  1825. 

4.  Funaki  Kenemon ; died  1856. 

5.  Funaki  Kenemon  ; still  alive. 

A SECOND  BRANCH  OF  THE  FUNAKI  FAMILY 

1.  Funaki  Kinzo,  son  of  Funaki  Shinzo;  opened  a 

factory  in  1 8 1 1 . 

2.  Funaki  Fusuki;  succeeded  to  the  business  in  1849. 

3.  Funaki  Ryoemon  ; succeeded  to  the  business  in  1865. 

A THIRD  BRANCH  OF  THE  FUNAKI  FAMILY 

1.  Funaki  Heibei,  son  of  Funaki  Kenemon;  opened  a 

factory  in  1866. 

2.  Funaki  Asataro  ; succeeded  to  the  business  in  1878. 

333 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

THE  SAWA  FAMILY 

1.  Sawa  Kasuki ; commenced  work  in  1790. 

2.  Sawa  Ichiemon;  succeeded  in  1804. 

3.  Sawa  Kasuki;  succeeded  in  1843. 

4.  Sawa  Taichiro;  succeeded  in  1873. 

Another  Branch  of  the  Sawa  Family 

1.  Sawa  Toemon,  son  of  Sawa  Kasuki;  opened  a sepa- 

rate factory  in  1800. 

2.  SawaToemon;  succeeded  in  1830. 

3.  Sawa  Toemon  ; succeeded  in  1863. 

4.  Sawa  Toronosuke  ; succeeded  in  1876. 

Another  family  of  experts  is  descended  from  Nagahara 
Yozo,  who  opened  a factory  in  1802.  He  was  succeeded 
by  his  son  of  the  same  name  1839,  latter  by  his  son 

Eisuke  in  1864. 

Like  other  noble  patrons  of  the  keramic  art  in 
Japan,  Fumai,  lord  of  Unshu,  had  a private  factory. 
It  was  called  Kairaku-zan,  and  the  principal  expert 
employed  at  it  originally  was  Nagaoka  Sumiemon. 
In  1816  this  same  potter  constructed  a kiln  within 
the  park  of  his  patron’s  mansion  in  Yedo.  Returning 
to  Izumo,  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Kosai ; the 
latter  by  his  son  Sumiemon,  and  the  last  by  his  son 
Shonosuki.  The  wares  of  these  artists  did  not  differ 
from  the  Fujina-yaki  described  above,  except  when 
the  faience  of  Korea  was  taken  as  a model  for  special 
manufactures. 

It  will  be  seen  from  what  has  been  written  that  the 
ware  of  Izumo  owed  its  reputation  almost  entirely  to 
the  patronage  of  Fumai,  and  that  its  period  of  greatest 
prosperity  was  during  his  lifetime.  Shortly  before 
the  abolition  of  feudalism  (1868),  the  factories  at 
Fujina  were  closed.  They  remained  so  until  1875, 
when  Mr.  Wakai,  a well-known  connoisseur,  at  that 

339 


JAPAN 

time  attached  to  the  Kosho-gaisha,  a trading  company 
partly  supported  by  the  Government,  visited  Izumo 
and  induced  the  potters  to  resume  their  industry.  In 
honour  of  his  initiative  and  assistance,  the  name  of 
the  re-established  factory  was  changed  from  Raku- 
zan  ’’  to  ‘‘  Jakuzan  ” [Jaku  is  the  alternative  sound  of 
the  ideograph  JVakai),  Two  faiences  were  and  are 
still  manufactured  ; the  one  in  considerable  quantities, 
the  other  rarely  and  with  less  success.  The  former  is 
the  well-known  variety  mentioned  at  the  beginning 
of  this  section  — yellow  glaze  with  decorations  in 
gold,  red,  and  green  — the  latter  the  beautiful  aven- 
turine  glaze.  Both  are  inferior  to  their  prototypes  of 
Fumai’s  time,  their  technique  being  less  careful  and 
their  glazes  wanting  in  richness  and  solidity.  On  the 
other  hand,  these  modern  specimens  are  of  a much 
more  imposing  and  decorative  character  than  anything 
formerly  produced. 

Since  1873  porcelain  has  been  included  among  the 
manufactures  of  Izumo.  Its  production  was  origi- 
nated by  Hadano  Soemon,  a merchant  of  Shimmachi, 
in  the  Nogi  district  of  Izumo.  This  man  procured 
the  services  of  an  expert  called  Madasuke,  from  the 
province  of  Tajima,  and  constructed  a kiln  for  him  at 
Shiotani.  Two  varieties  of  stone  and  a clay,  all  found 
in  the  neighbourhood,  were  employed.  The  ware 
requires  no  special  description.  It  is  blue-and-white 
porcelain  of  mediocre  quality. 

IWAMI  WARES 

It  is  convenient  to  speak  here  of  the  porcelain 
manufactured  in  Iwami,  a neighbouring  province  of 
Izumo.  It  had  its  origin  in  i860,  when  two  brothers, 
Noda  Shota  and  Noda  Genzo,  discovered  porcelain 

340 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

stone  at  Shirakami  and  opened  a factory  there.  They 
enjoyed  the  patronage  of  the  feudal  chief  of  the  dis- 
trict, and  their  industry  gradually  increased  until  it 
gave  occupation  to  over  thirty  potters  working  at 
about  twenty  factories.  The  ware  is  a coarse  variety 
of  blue-and-white  porcelain,  similar  to  the  Izumo 
porcelain  mentioned  above,  and  the  manufacture  is 
limited  to  ordinary  household  utensils. 

At  Nagahama,  in  the  same  province,  there  is  also 
produced  a species  of  Raku  ware  resembling,  but 
more  brittle  than,  the  Kyoto  Raku-yah\  It  was  origi- 
nated at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  by  a 
potter  called  Nagami  Fusazo,  and  the  industry  was 
continued  without  interruption  by  his  descendants  of 
the  same  name.  Like  other  wares  intended  for  the 
use  of  the  tea-clubs,  it  enjoyed,  from  time  to  time, 
the  special  patronage  of  local  magnates,  but  it  merits 
no  detailed  description,  being  simply  an  imitation  of 
the  well-known  Raku  faience  of  Kyoto. 

WARES  OF  SJNUKI  (EHIME  PREFECTURE) 

The  first  pottery  of  the  province  of  Sanuki  was  of 
the  Raku  type.  Its  originator  was  Akamatsu  Kihei. 
He  opened  a factory  (1573)  at  Daikucho,  in  the  Ka- 
gawa  district,  and  used  clay  obtained  from  the  cele- 
brated old  battle-field  of  Y ashima.  This  Raku-yaki  had 
nothing  to  recommend  it,  and  attracted  no  attention. 
Some  seventy  years  later  (1647),  Prince  Matsudaira 
Yorishige,  on  the  occasion  of  moving  to  Takamatsu 
(the  chief  town  of  Sanuki),  invited  thither  a potter 
of  Awata  (Kyoto),  called  Sakubei  Shigetoshi.  Sakubei 
was  an  expert  of  considerable  skill.  He  is  said  by 
some  to  have  been  a pupil  of  the  renowned  Nomura 
Ninsei,  and  to  have  settled  at  Awata  for  the  purpose 

341 


JAPAN 

of  receiving  the  great  potter’s  instruction.  His  father, 
Morishima  Hambei  Shigeyoshi,  a native  of  Osaka, 
adopted  keramics  as  his  profession  at  the  instance  of  a 
Chinese  potter,  whose  name  has  not  been  transmitted. 
From  the  time  of  Sakubei’s  arrival  in  Sanuki,  the  ware 
of  the  province  — generally  known  as  Takamatsu-yaki 
— underwent  a marked  change.  It  became  faience 
after  the  Awata  type ; both  the  decorative  subjects 
and  the  manner  of  their  execution,  in  green,  blue,  and 
red  enamels  picked  out  with  gold,  being  scarcely  dis- 
tinguishable from  the  work  of  the  Kyoto  keramists. 
The  pate  of  the  Takamatsu-yaki  is,  however,  easily  rec- 
ognised, owing  to  its  sandy  character  and  dark  colour. 
The  glaze  also  is  greyer  and  duller  than  that  of  Ky- 
oto faience.  In  1649  Prince  Yorishige  conferred  on 
Sakubei  the  name  of  Kita,  by  which  his  family  was 
thenceforth  known.  The  ninth  representative,  Kita 
Rihei,  who  flourished  in  the  second  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  enjoyed  a very  high  reputation. 
He  was  not  a scion  of  the  Kita  family,  but  was 
adopted  by  Iwanojo,  the  eighth  in  descent  from  Sa- 
kubei. Rihei  spent  six  years  in  Kyoto,  where  he 
studied  under  the  first  Dohachi.  He  did  not  remain 
in  the  family  of  his  adoption,  and  it  appears  to  have 
become  extinct  after  the  death  of  Iwanojo.  Taka- 
matsu faience  is  no  longer  produced. 

Another  factory  in  the  same  province  is  at  Nishi- 
katamoto.  It  was  opened  in  1803  by  order  of  the 
feudal  chief  of  the  district,  and  was  placed  under  the 
direction  of  Mitani  Rinzo.  The  family  of  this  potter 
had  been  working  at  Shidaura,  in  the  same  district, 
since  1766.  Their  faience,  locally  known  as  Shido- 
yaki,  or  Tashima-yaki  (from  the  name  of  the  old 
battle-field  whence  the  clay  was  procured),  had  no 

342 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

merits  from  an  artistic  point  of  view,  and  aimed  at 
nothing  higher  than  a resemblance  to  the  homely 
ware  of  Korea.  Some  specimens,  however,  are  of 
the  same  type  as  the  ware  of  the  Kita  family  de- 
scribed above,  and  may  easily  be  confounded  with 
enamelled  faience  of  Kyoto. 

WARES  OF  lYO  (EHIME  PREFECTURE) 

In  the  province  of  lyo,  which  adjoins  Sanuki  and 
is  included  in  the  same  prefecture  (Ehime),  the  ke- 
ramic  industry  is  of  comparatively  modern  origin.  It 
was  inaugurated  in  1796,  at  Gohonmatsu,  by  Mukai 
Genji,  whose  grandson,  Mukai  Wahei,  still  carries  it 
on.  Three  other  factories  may  be  mentioned  in  con- 
nection with  this  branch  of  keramics,  namely,  the 
factory  at  Iwaya-guchi,  opened  in  1820  by  Morimoto 
Chusuke,  whose  son,  Morimoto  Yujiro,  now  has 
charge  of  the  work ; the  factory  at  Nanaori,  opened 
in  1842  by  Sagawa  Tomosuke,  who  was  succeeded, 
in  1856,  by  Sakamoto  Gembei ; this  factory  remained 
practically  inactive  from  1861  till  1870,  when  it  was 
reopened  by  Sakamoto  Gengo  ; and  finally  the  factory 
at  Ichiba,  which  was  opened  by  Kanaoka  Otoemon 
in  1810,  and  is  now  under  the  direction  of  his  grand- 
son, Kanaoka  Sadazo.  Good  porcelain  stone  is  found 
at  more  than  one  place  in  the  province,  but  the  am- 
bition of  the  manufacturers  has  not  hitherto  extended 
beyond  the  supply  of  local  wants.  Their  ware  is  blue- 
and-white  porcelain  of  mediocre  quality. 

HAGI-YAKI 

This  ware  is  manufactured  in  the  province  of 
Nagato,  formerly  the  fief  of  Choshiu,  but  now  in- 

343 


JAPAN 

eluded  in  the  Yamaguchi  Prefecture.  It  takes  its 
name  from  Hagi,  the  chief  town  of  the  province. 
There  is  some  uncertainty  about  the  date  of  its  origin, 
but  most  accounts  agree  that  the  first  kiln  was  not 
opened  before  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
Not  till  the  close  of  that  century,  however,  did  the 
Hagi-yaki  attract  attention.  During  the  expedition 
to  Korea,  Mori  Terumoto,  lord  of  Choshiu,  employed 
as  guide  a Korean  named  Rikei,  by  whom  he  was 
accompanied  on  the  return  of  the  troops  to  Japan. 
Learning  that  Rikei  was  by  profession  a potter,  and 
being  anxious  to  encourage  the  keramic  industry  in 
his  fief,  Mori  desired  the  immigrant  to  search  for 
suitable  clay  and  select  a place  for  a factory.  After 
a lengthy  examination,  Rikei  reported  that  good 
materials  were  procurable  at  Matsumoto,  in  the  Abu 
district.  There,  accordingly,  he  was  instructed  to 
settle.  The  hill  where  potter's  earth  was  found,  being 
completely  handed  over  to  him,  thenceforth  received 
the  name  of  Kanjin-yama  (Korean-man's  mount), 
while  Rikei  himself  took  the  Japanese  appellation 
of  Sukehachi,  subsequently,  however,  changing  it  to 
Koraizaemon  (Zaiemon  of  Korea).  A Korean  faience, 
known  in  Japan  as  Ido-yaki,  seems  to  have  served  him 
as  a model,  for  the  chief  characteristic  of  his  produc- 
tions was  greyish  craquele  glaze  with  clouds  of  salmon 
tint.  In  addition  to  the  earth  found  at  Kanjin-yama, 
materials  were  procured  from  Daito-mura,  Mishima- 
moto-mura,  and  Ukino-mura.  Small  utensils  for  the 
use  of  the  tea-clubs  were  principally  manufactured. 
The  best  specimens  were  reserved  for  the  lord  of  the 
district,  whose  officers  attended  at  the  time  of  opening 
a fournee.  Koraizaemon  was  raised  to  the  rank  of 
shizoku.  As  will  be  seen  from  the  genealogy  given 

344 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

below,  his  descendants  have  continued  the  keramic 
manufacture  without  interruption  down  to  the  present 
time.  They  did  not,  however,  retain  the  monopoly 
at  Matsumoto.  During  the  Kambun  era  (i66i  — 
1672),  an  expert  from  the  province  of  Yamato 
entered  the  service  of  the  Mori  house,  and  was  as- 
signed for  his  support  a tract  of  land  in  Higashiwake- 
mura,  Abu  district,  receiving,  at  the  same  time,  the 
name  of  Kiusetsu.  This  man  also  opened  a factory 
at  Matsumoto,  and  employing  materials  procured  at 
Higashiwake,  Mishimamoto,  and  Ukino-yama,  manu- 
factured faience  not  only  after  the  fashion  of  Korai- 
zaemon’s  Hagi-yaki,  but  also  in  the  style  of  the 
well-known  Raku  ware  of  Kyoto.  From  his  time, 
in  addition  to  the  pearl  grey  and  salmon  glazes  of 
Koraizaemon,  there  were  produced  pale  green  and  light 
lavender  glazes,  sometimes  applied  as  monochromes, 
sometimes  used  to  variegate  greyish  or  cream-white 
grounds.  Another  variety,  known  as  E-hagi,  or 
painted  Hagi,  also  made  its  appearance.  It  had 
boldly  executed  designs  in  black,  slate  colour,  or  red- 
dish brown,  after  the  fashion  of  Korean  painted  ware 
[E-gdrai),  The  Hagi-yaki  occupies  a place  of  little 
artistic  importance  among  Japanese  keramic  produc- 
tions, though  it  is  much  valued  by  the  tea-clubs.  The 
artist  whose  name  is  best  remembered  for  technical 
shill  is  Kiusetsu  of  the  fourth  generation,  who 
flourished  from  1740  to  1776. 

GENEALOGY  OF  THE  BAN  FAMILY,  FOUNDED  BY  RIKEI, 
OR  KORAIZAEMON 

1.  Koraizaemon;  died  1643. 

2.  Sukehachi ; died  1668. 

3.  Shimbei ; died  1729. 

345 


JAPAN 

4.  Shimbei;  died  1748. 

5.  Sukehachi ; died  1769. 

6.  Shimbei;  died  1803. 

7.  Sukehachi;  died  1824. 

8.  Shimbei,  afterwards  called  Koraizaemon ; died  1878. 

9.  Dosuke,  the  present  representative. 

Another  centre  of  keramic  industry  in  the  same 
province  is  at  San-no-se.  Factories  were  opened 
there  in  1683  by  the  ancestor  of  the  present  potter 
Shinjo  Orie ; in  1692  by  the  ancestor  of  the  present 
Kurazaki  Otojuro  ; in  1760  by  the  ancestor  of  the 
present  Nami  Hanzaemon ; in  1775  by  the  Itakura 
family,  and  during  the  Temmei  era  (1781—1788)  by 
Sakata  Densaku,  Tahara  Kenji,  and  Yamashita  Mago- 
roku.  All  these  artists  were  under  the  patronage  of 
the  noble  family  of  Mori,  Prince  of  Choshu. 

Since  1846  porcelain  has  been  manufactured  in  the 
province  of  Nagato.  A potter  called  Furuse  is  said 
to  have  originated  its  production,  using  materials 
found  at  Kawamagari  and  Ohama,  in  the  province 
of  lyo,  and  working  at  Takibe.  Ware  of  the  same 
nature  was  also  produced  at  Tagayasu  by  a potter 
named  Wada,  from  the  year  1854.  It  was  not  till 
1880,  however,  that  porcelain  stone  was  discovered  in 
Nagato  itself,  at  Obata.  An  association  called  the 
Shoshosha  was  formed  in  consequence  of  the  discovery, 
and  considerable  quantities  of  coarse  blue-and-white 
utensils  were  produced.  Occasionally  among  the 
wares  of  this  province  ivory-white  porcelain  of  some 
merit  is  found.  It  does  not  form  a staple  production, 
but  is  to  be  regarded  rather  as  an  experimental  manu- 
facture. Its  pate  consists  principally  of  stone  from 
Amakusa. 

Hagi,  or  Choshiu,  porcelain,  manufactured  with 

346 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

the  stone  of  Obata,  has  been  analysed.  Its  composi- 
tion is  as  follows : — 

CHOSHIU  PORCELAIN 

Silica.  Alumina.  Iron  Oxidr.  Limb,  Magnesia,  etc.  Water. 

73.45  20.71  0.52  4.48  1.15 

The  modern  faience  manufactured  at  Matsumoto 
is  of  the  Raku  type ; that  is  to  say,  a thick,  soft-look- 
ing pottery  with  little  lustre  of  surface  and  a wooden 
timbre.  The  fracture  shows  a yellowish  tinge.  The 
only  pieces  worthy  of  note  from  an  artistic  point  of 
view  have  decoration  in  the  Yatsushiro  style;  designs 
engraved  in  the  paste  are  filled  with  white  clay  which 
retains  its  colour  after  baking. 

WARES  OF  SUO 

Suo  is  the  neighbouring  province  of  Nagato,  on 
the  east,  and  is  also  included  in  the  Yamaguchi  Pre- 
fecture. Its  keramic  productions  have  never  acquired 
any  reputation,  and  are  of  modern  date,  the  first  kiln 
of  which  anything  is  known  having  been  opened  by 
Matsuo  Tobei,  at  Hachido,  in  1850.  His  faience, 
and  indeed  all  the  faience  manufactured  in  the 
province,  may  be  described  as  an  inferior  variety  of 
Hagi-yaki,  Of  late  years  a potter  called  Yoshika 
Tosaku,  of  Nishi-no-ura,  has  begun  to  add  red  and 
green  enamelled  decoration  to  soft  craquele  faience, 
made  from  materials  found  at  Daido-mura.  There 
are  many  kilns  in  the  province,  but  their  productions 
are  to  be  classed  as  coarse  porcelain  and  faience,  of 
the  same  type  as  the  wares  of  Nagato. 

WARES  OF  KOCHI 

Kochi  is  the  capital  of  the  province  of  Tosa.  The 
oldest  and  best  known  ware  manufactured  in  this 

347 


JAPAN 

province  is  the  Odo-yaki,  produced  at  a town  called 
Otsu,  about  live  miles  to  the  east  of  K5chi.  The 
factory  was  established  at  the  close  of  the  sixteenth 
century  by  a Korean  potter  called  Shohaku,  who  came 
to  Japan  in  the  train  of  Motochika,  feudal  chief  of 
Tosa.  Shohaku  is  said  to  have  originally  used  ma- 
terials imported  from  Korea,  which  produced  light- 
red,  hard  pate,  covered  with  diaphanous  glaze.  These 
pieces  were  not  painted  or  enamelled,  their  only  dec- 
oration being  a coat  of  white  glaze  run  over  the 
ground-glaze  so  as  to  suggest  the  idea,  sometimes  of  a 
wrapper,  sometimes  of  streaks  of  snow.  Another  and 
choicer  variety  had  somewhat  coarse  pate,  nearly 
white,  over  which  was  run  lustrous  grey  glaze  ; the 
decoration  consisting  of  scrolls  and  conventional 
designs  incised  in  the  pate  and  filled  in  with  white 
clay,  after  the  fashion  of  the  Yatsushiro  faience  and 
the  Gohon  ware  of  Korea.  Of  this  early  faience  very 
few  authentic  specimens  exist.  Soon  the  potters 
began  to  use  clay  found  at  Nochazan,  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Kochi,  the  result  being  soft,  reddish  grey 
pate  covered  with  diaphanous  glaze.  In  1653  the 
character  of  the  ware  underwent  a change.  Yama- 
nouchi  Tadayoshi,  lord  of  the  province,  invited  from 
Osaka  a skilled  potter  called  Hisano  Seihaku,  who 
had  been  a pupil  of  the  celebrated  Kyoto  artist 
Nomura  Ninsei.  Seihaku  soon  returned  to  Osaka, 
but  not  before  he  had  introduced  in  Tosa  the  Kyoto 
style  of  Shibu-e  decoration  — that  is  to  say,  decoration 
in  black  or  reddish  brown  under  the  glaze.  Seihaku’s 
place  in  Tosa  was  taken  by  his  pupil  Yamazaki 
Heinai,  one  of  whose  sons,  Morita  Mitsuhisa,  subse- 
quently went  to  Osaka  and  studied  for  several  years 
under  Seihaku. 


348 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

In  1679  this  same  Morita  visited  all  the  prin- 
cipal factories  at  Kyot5,  and  in  Owari,  Mino,  To- 
tomi,  and  elsewhere.  Returning  to  Kochi,  he  set 
himself  to  produce  faience  after  Korean  or  Kyoto 
models.  He  did  not,  however,  use  enamelled  deco- 
ration, but  preferred  the  severe  style  of  the  Shibu-e  and 
confined  himself  to  the  manufacture  of  tea  utensils. 
Among  his  pieces  the  most  valued  were  cups  with 
paintings  of  Sho-chiku-bai  — pine-sprays,  bamboos,  and 
plum-blossoms  — in  black  or  dark  brown  sous  couverte. 
Of  his  successors  during  the  eighteenth  century  the  best 
known  were  Mitsunaga,  Mitsuyoshi,  Mitsutsugu,  and 
Mitsutane.  Probably  about  the  year  1760  bright 
green  glazes,  monochromatic  or  in  combination  with 
yellow,  began  to  be  applied.  Associated  with  these 
is  generally  found  plastic  decoration  — engraved  or 
in  relief.  At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury the  Odo  factory  was  moved  to  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Nochazan.  Its  productions  thenceforth 
began  to  be  called  Nochazan-yaki.  Mention  may  be 
made  here  of  a local  tradition  which  says  that,  even 
before  the  time  of  Shohaku,  pottery  was  manufactured 
in  Tosa  from  the  clay  of  Nochazan,  and  that  it  was 
decorated  with  designs,  engraved  or  in  relief,  copied 
from  studies  by  the  celebrated  painter  Kano  Motonobu. 
Of  this  there  is  no  trustworthy  evidence.  Owing 
to  some  reason  which  experts  fail  to  explain,  the 
potters  of  Imado,  Tokyo,  also  produced  a faience 
to  which  the  name  of  Odo-yaki,  or  Odo-yoki^  was 
given.  This  is  easily  distinguished  from  the  true 
Odo-yakiy  having  very  soft  pate  and  a milk-white, 
waxy  glaze  — in  quality  resembling  that  of  Kyoto 
Raku  ware  — to  which  are  applied  somewhat  ar- 
chaic designs  in  dull  blue.  The  commonest  vari- 

349 


JAPAN 

ety  of  the  modern  Kochi-yaki  of  Tosa  is  faience 
covered  with  bright  metallic  green  glaze,  slightly 
crackled. 


AWAJl-YAKI 

A ware  of  which  considerable  quantities  have  found 
their  way  westward  of  late  years  is  Awaji-yaki,  so 
called  from  an  island  of  the  same  name,  where  it  is 
manufactured  at  the  village  of  Iga.  It  was  first  pro- 
duced between  the  years  1830  and  1840  by  one  Kaju 
Mimpei,  called  also  Toyonosuke,  who  had  acquired 
his  technical  knowledge  in  Kyoto.  Mimpei  was  a 
man  of  extraordinary  enterprise  and  resolution.  When 
he  succeeded  to  the  family  estate  he  found  himself  the 
possessor  of  about  forty-five  acres  of  rice  land  and  a pros- 
perous manufactory  of  shoyu  (fish  sauce).  His  tastes 
were  at  once  literary  and  artistic.  He  was  a writer  of 
some  talent,  and  a Chajin  of  acknowledged  authority. 
Moved,  however,  by  the  very  straitened  circum- 
stances of  the  numerous  population  of  Awaji,  he  cast 
about  for  some  means  of  supplementing  their  resources. 
To  develop  the  fishing  industry  seemed  most  feasible. 
He  applied  himself  to  the  task  with  energy,  engaging 
some  three  hundred  fishermen  and  employing  an 
immense  seine  made  at  Sakai,  in  Izumi.  To  procure 
this  seine  he  travelled  to  Sakai,  and  en  route  made  the 
acquaintance  of  the  distinguished  Kyoto  keramist, 
Ogata  Shuhei.  His  homeward  journey  led  him  by 
Ikenouchi-mura  — now  called  Shiroto-mura  — and 
finding  there  a clay  that  appeared  suitable  for  pottery 
manufacture,  he  carried  some  of  it  to  his  native  place, 
Inada-mura,  and  succeeded  in  producing  good  faience 
of  the  Kaku  type.  It  is  said  that  even  at  this  early 
stage  his  ambition  was  to  imitate  the  beautiful  Impe- 

350 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

rial  Yellow  of  China,  but  that  he  failed  completely. 
Meanwhile,  his  fishing  venture  proving  more  and 
more  unsatisfactory,  he  finally  abandoned  it,  and 
shortly  afterwards  (1829),  closed  his  sKbyu  manufactory 
also.  Thenceforth  the  keramic  industry  occupied 
his  sole  attention.  From  1830  to  1834  his  experi- 
ments were  unceasingly  directed  toward  the  production 
of  the  deep  green  and  imperial  yellow  glazes  of 
China,  and  success  at  last  crowned  his  efforts.  In 
1834  he  visited  Kyoto,  and  induced  Ogata  Shuhei  to 
return  with  him  to  Awaji,  where  the  two  men  worked 
together  for  two  years.  Specimens  are  occasionally 
found  bearing  their  double  stamp.  Mimpei  was  now 
able  to  manufacture  excellent  stone-ware,  covered 
with  lustrous  yellow  and  deep  green  glazes.  But  his 
resources  were  nearly  exhausted.  He  had  disposed  of 
his  father’s  estate  and  was  in  actual  want.  A relative, 
Yuzaemon,  came  to  his  assistance,  presenting  him 
first  with  forty  acres  of  land,  and  afterwards  with  a 
considerable  sum  in  cash.  His  younger  brother, 
Tsunezaemon,  then  the  head-man  of  the  village,  also 
converted  all  his  available  property  into  money,  and 
handing  this  over  to  Mimpei,  joined  the  latter’s  kera- 
mic industry.  Thenceforth  Mempei  superintended  the 
factory,  and  Tsunezaemon  took  charge  of  the  kiln. 

In  1838  Mimpei  added  greyish  white  glaze  to  his 
manufactures,  and  in  the  following  year  supplemented 
it  by  mirror  black.  He  was  now  in  the  full  tide  of 
technical  success.  So  thoroughly  had  he  mastered 
the  management  of  glazes  that  he  could  combine 
yellow,  green,  white,  and  claret-colour  in  regular 
patches,  to  imitate  the  curious  tortoise-shell  ” glaze 
Bekko-de)  of  Satsuma  and  Kyoto  [vide  Zengoro) 
Hozen).  His  green  and  yellow  glazes  were  lustrous 

351 


JAPAN 

and  brilliant,  though  neither  could  rival  the  ex- 
quisitely delicate  canary-yellow  and  apple-green  of 
China.  He  was  able  to  manufacture  ware  having  a 
rich  uniform  yellow  glaze  with  reserved  designs  in 
green,  or  green  and  white.  He  used  gold  and  silver 
for  decorative  purposes  with  the  greatest  skill.  His 
modelling  was  spirited  and  exact.  His  designs  were 
chaste  and  well  executed.  He  had,  indeed,  built  up 
an  industry  destined  to  raise  Awaji  to  a high  place 
among  the  keramic  centres  of  Japan.  In  1842  his 
kiln  was  honoured  by  a visit  from  Hachisuka,  whose 
fief  included  the  island  of  Awaji,  and  an  official  factory 
was  opened  and  placed  under  Mimpei’s  superintend- 
ence. But  in  1856  Tsunezaemon  died,  and  six  years 
later  (1862)  Mimpei  himself  contracted  a disease  that 
obliged  him  to  abandon  the  industry.  He  survived 
until  1870,  but  took  no  active  part  in  the  work,  aban- 
doning it  entirely  to  his  nephew  Sampei,  son  of 
Tsunezaemon,  his  pupil  Keyakida  Zenjiro,  and  his  son 
Rikitaro.  The  last,  however,  being  a confirmed  in- 
valid, was  soon  compelled  to  retire.  An  additional 
factory  was  opened  at  Sumoto,  in  1883,  by  Tamura 
Kyuhei.  Awaji-yakiy  or  Mimpe-yaki  as  it  is  sometimes 
called,  commands  a fair  market.  The  rich  yellow 
and  green  glazes,  relieved  by  incised  designs,  are  well 
suited  for  plates,  dishes,  cake-boxes,  and  other  table 
utensils.  The  works  of  the  present  potters  are  pal- 
pably inferior  to  those  of  Mimpei  himself. 

Speaking  generally,  the  Awaji-yakt  may  be  classed 
under  two  heads.  The  first  sort  has  strongly  baked 
biscuit,  varying  from  stone-ware  to  porcelain,  which 
is  glazed  with  an  easily  fusible  mixture  of  sand  and 
oxide  of  lead.  The  addition  of  oxide  of  copper,  or 
of  naturally  coloured  clays,  imparts  to  the  glaze  a 

352 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

green,  yellow,  or  reddish  brown  colour.  In  this 
species  of  Awaji-yaki  there  is  little  or  no  crackle. 
The  second  sort  closely  resembles  Awata  faience.  It 
has  delicate  yellowish  or  cream-white  glaze,  covered 
with  a network  of  fine  or  bold  crackle.  The  glazing 
material  of  this  species  is  of  similar  composition  to 
that  of  Satsuma  or  Kyoto.  On  both  of  the  above 
varieties  designs  are  painted  in  strong  black  outlines, 
or  in  enamels  more  or  less  transparent. 

An  analysis  of  the  Awaji-ware  mass  by  Mr.  Kor- 
schelt  showed  the  following  composition  : — 


Specimen  from  Ineda-mura 


AWAJI-WARE  MASS 


Silica.  Alumina. 
. . 63.67  3.04 


Iron 

Oxide. 

0.38 


Limb,  Pot- 

ASH,  ETC. 


Water. 


2.91  3.52 


This  mass  was  found  to  be  a mixture  of  eight  parts  of  clay 
and  two  parts  of  stone,  both  obtained  from  a place  called 
Ike-no-uchi,  in  the  island  of  Awaji.  Specimens  of  the  ware 
manufactured  from  the  mixture  were  very  white  and  hard. 
They  appeared  to  have  been  exposed  to  the  full  heat  of  the 
Japanese  oven.  The  fracture  was  smooth  and  lustrous, 
slightly  transparent  at  the  edges,  and  resembling  the  fracture 
of  European  porcelain.  In  fact,  fate  of  the  best  Awaji 
ware  may  be  classed  as  a porcelain,  although  green  or  yellow 
lead-glaze  gives  It  the  appearance  of  faience. 

Mimpei  himself  did  not  much  affect  the  use  of 
enamel  decoration,  though  he  used  it  occasionally 
with  great  success,  as  might  be  anticipated  from  his 
intimate  association  with  Shuhei,  of  Kyot5.  The 
present  artists  of  Awaji  resort  more  freely  to  this 
style.  Some  of  their  pieces,  covered  with  cream- 
white  crackle  glaze  and  having  decoration  in  enamel 
colours,  are  at  once  rich  and  solid.  The  Awaji  glazes 
are  peculiarly  wax-like  and  smooth  to  the  touch. 
They  are  generally  made  of  an  easily  fusible  mixture 

VOL.  VIII.  — 23  ? r 9 


JAPAN 

of  sand  and  oxide  of  lead,  with  the  addition  of  natu- 
rally coloured  clays  or  copper  oxide.  Some  are  finely 
crackled ; others  have  only  accidental  crackle,  or  are 
entirely  free  from  this  feature. 

MINATO-YAKI 

This  is  a ware  produced  at  Minato,  in  the  province 
of  Izumi.  The  factory  is  of  considerable  antiquity. 
In  the  days  of  Sen  no  Rikiu  (1580)  it  was  celebrated 
for  ash-holders  — used  at  Tea  Ceremonials  — of  un- 
glazed pottery,  brittle,  and  yellowish  in  colour.  By 
some  authorities  pottery  is  said  to  have  been  manu- 
factured at  Minato  from  the  time  of  the  priest  Gyogi 
(eighth  century).  Towards  the  close  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  (1673—1690)  an  expert  called  Ueda 
Kichizaemon  acquired  a wide  reputation.  By  him 
the  use  of  thin,  mottled  glazes  — yellow  ochre  and 
claret  colour  — was  introduced,  and  great  plastic 
skill  was  developed.  During  the  Bunsei  era  (1828- 
1829)  Kichizaemon,  fifth  in  descent  from  Ueda,  • 
began  successfully  to  copy  the  faience  of  Raku  and 
so-called  ‘‘  Cochin-China.”  Thenceforth  are  found 
green,  yellow,  claret,  amber-brown,  and  salmon  glazes. 
Some  specimens  of  this  nature  may  readily  be  mis- 
taken for  Awaji-yaki,  The  pate  of  the  Minato-yaki  is, 
in  good  examples,  very  fine,  tolerably  hard,  and  of 
light  grey  colour.  In  pieces  of  comparatively  modern 
manufacture  and  inferior  technique,  the  clay  is  coarser 
and  darker,  covered  generally  with  impure  grass- 
green  glaze.  Examples  of  the  old  Mmato-(2ii^ncQ  are 
exceedingly  rare.  They  generally  show  remarkable 
plastic  skill  : not  such  skill  as  that  displayed  in  the 
delicate  lines  and  softly  rounded  contours  of  Ao-Bizen 

354 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

ware  ; but  rather  the  skill  of  firm,  sharply  cut  outlines, 
and  bold  modelling.  The  Minato-yaki  is  much  prized 
by  the  Japanese,  who  consider  that  its  makers  were 
second  to  none  in  the  ability  with  which  they  used 
their  graving  and  moulding  tools.  The  family  of 
Ueda  has  become  extinct,  and  the  Minato  factory  is 
now  in  the  hands  of  Tsushiro  Kichibei.  Its  produc- 
tions no  longer  merit  attention. 

WARES  OF  YAMASHIRO 
Asahi-Taki 

It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  in  the  fifth 
century  the  Emperor  Yuriaku  ordered  the  potters  of 
Yamashiro  to  manufacture,  for  the  use  of  the  Court, 
a species  of  ware  called  Seiki^  or  pure  utensils.  Anti- 
quarians differ  as  to  the  meaning  of  this  term,  but 
agree  in  designating  the  village  of  Uji  in  Yamato  as 
the  site  of  the  factory  where  the  Emperor’s  orders 
were  executed.  On  the  east  of  this  village  lies  a hill 
called  Asahi-yama.  Thence  the  materials  for  the 
ware,  as  well  as  its  appellation,  were  derived.  There 
is  no  record  that  prior  to  the  seventeenth  century  the 
workmen  at  Asahi-yama  produced  anything  but  com- 
mon utensils  of  unglazed  pottery,  except  the  Imperial 
Seiki^  which,  however,  for  aught  that  is  known  to  the 
contrary,  may  have  been  an  equally  primitive  affair. 
To  the  celebrated  dilettante  Kobori  Masakazu,  lord 
of  Enshiu,  is  due  the  influence  that  excited  the  potters 
of  Asahi  to  attempt  the  manufacture  of  faience.  It 
cannot  be  said  that  their  efforts  were  very  successful. 
The  clay  of  the  district  produced  soft  coarse  pate  of 
dull  red  or  grey  colour.  The  glaze  employed  was 
muddy  grey,  showing  coarse  crackle,  and  the  decora- 

355 


JAPAN 

tion  was  confined  to  patches  of  red,  varying  in  tone, 
after  the  fashion  of  the  Korean  Go~hon  ware,  or  to  a 
partial  coat  of  some  other  glaze  — generally  impure 
white  — running  down  into  irregular  edges  like  sta- 
lactites. Occasionally  imitations  are  found  of  the  so- 
called  Cochin-Chinese  faience,  but  they  are  rare  and 
defective.  The  potter  by  whom  the  factory  was 
opened  (1644—1647),  under  the  patronage  of  Kobori 
Masakazu,  was  named  Okamura  Josaku.  He  pro- 
duced cups,  bowls,  and  other  small  utensils  which  are 
still  valued  by  the  tea-clubs.  The  manufacture  was 
discontinued  at  the  death  (about  1730)  of  Josaku’s 
son.  It  owes  its  revival  in  recent  times  to  an  expert 
called  Chobei,  but  the  modern  ware  finds  no  favour 
with  connoisseurs.  The  reason  assigned  for  their  in- 
difference is  that  the  materials  now  used  — which 
are  obtained  at  Warada  — show  marked  inferiority  to 
those  employed  by  the  Okamura  family.  To  ordinary 
critics  there  is  little  to  choose  between  the  two,  both 
being  equally  unattractive. 

Tawara-Taki 

This  is  faience  identical  with  that  of  Asahi,  and 
produced  in  the  same  distriet  of  Yamashiro,  at  a place 
called  Tawara,  near  Uji,  from  about  the  middle  to 
the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century. 


WARES  OF  YAMATO 
Akahada-  T aki 

This  ware  derives  its  name  from  a barren  hill  called 
Akahada,  which  overlooks  the  little  town  of  Gojo  in 
Yamato.  The  district  is  one  of  peculiar  keramic 

356 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

interest,  for  it  includes  the  village  of  Haji,  where 
clay  substitutes  for  human  sacrifices  were  first  made, 
nineteen  hundred  years  ago,  at  the  suggestion  of  Nomi 
no  Sukune,  the  prince  of  wrestlers.  The  kiln  at  Aka- 
hada  is  said  to  be  of  considerable  antiquity,  but,  how- 
ever this  may  be,  it  was  only  under  Nomura  Ninsefs 
direction  that  its  productions  began  to  exhibit  any 
merit.  The  pate  of  the  early  pieces  (1644—1700) 
shows  greater  admixture  of  sand  than  that  of  the  con- 
temporary Kyoto  faience  — for  which  in  other  respects 
it  might  easily  be  mistaken  — while  the  glaze  is  opaque 
and  bears  a considerable  resemblance  to  that  of  the 
Hagi-yaki  of  Nagato,  being  thick,  creamy,  and 
crackled.  The  manufacture  was  practically  confined 
to  tea  utensils,  which,  in  decorative  style,  show  marked 
affinity  with  the  fashions  of  the  Kyot5  school,  but 
are  generally  severe  and  even  archaic.  Few  speci- 
mens survive  of  the  ware  of  this  first  epoch  — during 
which  the  potters  conformed  strictly  to  the  tastes  of 
the  tea-clubs  — and  the  old  Akahada-y aki  is  corre- 
spondingly little  known  outside  the  circle  of  Japanese 
chajin.  Its  production  was  discontinued,  according 
to  some  authorities,  as  early  as  1670  ; according  to 
others,  about  1700.  In  1761  it  was  revived,  under 
the  patronage  of  Yanagi-sawa,  lord  of  Koriyama,  a 
chajin  of  note,  who  is  said  to  'have  himself  painted 
some  of  the  pieces.  The  most  characteristic  produc- 
tion of  this  second  period  is  faience  having  buff- 
coloured  lustreless  glaze,  to  which  is  applied  minutely 
executed  decoration  in  vitreous  enamels,  red  being 
largely  pre-dominant.  There  are  also  variegated  or 
monochromatic  glazes  — green,  olive,  brown,  grey, 
and  white — and  a variety  of  the  Raku  type  of  which 
the  surface  is  covered  with  dull  gold  forming  a ground 

357 


JAPAN 

for  decoration  that  consists  generally  of  floral  designs 
or  diapers,  traced  sometimes  with  white  slip,  but 
more  usually  with  a paste  formed  of  glue  and  white- 
lead  powder.  No  personal  record  of  the  Akahada 
potters  is  preserved.  The  only  remembered  artist  is 
Bokuhaku.  He  flourished  down  to  about  i860. 


BANKO-YAKI 

At  the  village  of  Kuwana,  in  the  province  of  Ise, 
between  the  years  1736  and  1795,  there  lived  a rich 
merchant,  by  name  Numanami  Gozaemon,  who  in 
the  days  of  his  prosperity  turned  his  thoughts  to 
garden-making,  that  refined  extravagance  which  has 
always  been  among  the  first  fancies  of  a wealthy  Jap- 
anese. Until  that  time  Gozaemon  had  given  him- 
self little  concern  about  the  Chajin  and  their  tenets, 
but  his  horticultural  predilections  necessarily  drove 
him  to  seek  the  aid  of  those  masters  of  aesthetics.  To 
this  end  he  visited  Kyoto,  and  there  became  the  pupil 
of  a renowned  virtuoso,  from  whom  he  acquired  not 
the  principles  of  garden-making  alone,  but  also  that 
taste  for  keramics  which  forms  an  integral  part  of  the 
Tea  Ceremonials.  The  renown  of  the  great  potter 
Kenzan  was  then  fresh,  and  the  Kyomizu  factories 
had  attained  the  zenith  of  their  excellence.  The 
merchant  of  Kuwana,  now  an  ardent  disciple  of  the 
Cha-no-Tu  ethics,  never  wearied  of  wandering  from 
workshop  to  workshop  and  watching  the  clay  assume, 
under  the  touch  of  skilled  manipulators,  shapes  the 
beauties  of  which  he  had  newly  learned  to  appreciate. 
His  interest  gradually  developed  into  a desire  to  imi- 
tate. The  Kyoto  potters  were  easily  persuaded  to 
explain  their  processes,  and  whether  their  pupil  pos- 

358 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

sessed  some  innate  ability,  or  whether,  as  a wealthy 
amateur,  he  was  able  to  command  the  best  materials 
and  devote  ample  time  to  the  manufacture  of  single 
pieces,  it  is  certain  that  by  the  circle  of  friends  who 
were  so  fortunate  as  to  receive  the  products  of  his 
kiln  he  was  pronounced  one  of  the  best  artists  of  his 
day.  Yet,  like  the  majority  of  Japanese  keramists, 
he  was  an  imitator,  not  an  originator.  The  thick  un- 
adorned Raku  ware  and  ill-favoured  Korean  faiences 
supplied  him  with  models  that  seemed  not  less  worthy 
of  reproduction  than  the  delicate  conceptions  of  Ninsei 
or  the  bold  designs  of  Kenzan.  In  both  directions, 
however,  Gozaemon  was  successful ; so  successful  that 
his  fame  reached  the  Court  at  Yedo,  and  a special 
order  was  sent  to  him  from  the  Shogun  lyenari 
(1786).  No  doubt  such  a commission  incited  the 
amateur  to  more  than  common  exertions,  for  the  pro- 
ficiency he  displayed  induced  the  Shogun  to  summon 
him  to  Yedo.  He  accordingly  moved  to  Komme,  in 
the  northeast  suburb  of  the  Eastern  Capital,  where  he 
already  possessed  a residence,  and  there  pursued  his 
keramic  pastime  under  the  patronage  of  the  Court 
nobles,  lyenari  himself  sometimes  condescending  to 
visit  Komme  and  watch  the  elaboration  of  results 
which  he  so  much  admired.  The  effect  of  all  this 
upon  Gozaemon’s  reputation  can  be  easily  conceived. 
His  ware  became  the  rage  everywhere,  — not,  per- 
haps, for  the  sake  of  its  merits  alone,  but  also  because 
of  the  difficulty  men  experienced  in  procuring  it  ; 
for  fame  had  made  the  artist  capricious,  and,  since 
he  did  not  work  for  gain,  none  but  the  favoured 
few  might  obtain  specimens  of  his  handicraft.  He 
now  no  longer  restricted  himself  to  imitations  of 
ancient  models,  but,  giving  the  reins  to  his  fancy, 

359 


JAPAN 

turned  out  pieces  combining  the  graces  of  the  Jap- 
anese school  with  the  brilliancy  of  Chinese  polychro- 
matic porcelain.  Just  then,  however,  the  factories  of 
the  Celestial  Kingdom,  under  the  munificent  patron- 
age of  the  Emperor  Chien-lung,  were  producing 
wares  not  unworthy  of  their  ancient  fame ; and  side 
by  side  with  these  the  inferiority  of  the  Japanese 
keramist’s  enamels  became  easily  apparent.  The 
Shdgun,  therefore,  commissioned  the  Governor  of 
Nagasaki  to  procure  from  Ching-te-chen  the  recipes 
used  at  the  Imperial  factory,  together  with  a supply 
of  the  best  materials.  It  is  not  easy  to  conceive  by 
what  means  these  instructions  were  carried  out,  but 
the  Governor  seems  to  have  experienced  no  difficulty, 
for  within  a year  he  forwarded  to  Yedo  all  that  was 
required.  With  this  aid  Gozaemon’s  success  was 
more  marked  than  ever.  The  best  connoisseurs  could 
scarcely  distinguish  his  pieces  from  Chinese  porcelain 
decorated  with  red  and  green  enamels  of  the  Wan-li 
period  (1573—1620),  though  indeed  it  must  be  con- 
fessed that  the  models  he  copied  did  not  exhibit  any 
very  remarkable  degree  of  keramic  skill.  His  imita- 
tions of  Delft  faience,  too,  were  certainly  quite  as 
good  as  the  very  inferior  specimens  of  that  ware 
which  found  their  way  to  Japan;  but  his  achieve- 
ments in  this  line  need  not  occupy  attention.  He 
was  at  his  best  when,  departing  from  his  models,  he 
combined  brilliantly  glazed  surfaces  with  chaste  floral 
decoration  in  the  pure  Japanese  style.  He  imitated 
everything,  from  the  rude  faiences  of  Korea  and  the 
soft  colours  of  so-called  ‘‘Cochin-China’’  ware  to  the 
severest  styles  of  Ninsei  and  Kenzan.  He  generally 
marked  his  pieces  Banko  (ever-lasting  or  enduring), 
sometimes,  however,  adding  Fuyeki  (changeless).  His 

360 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

productions  are  now  known  as  Ko-Banko-yaki  (old 
Banko  ware).  He  died  about  the  year  1795,  at  Ku- 
wana,  whither  he  had  been  recalled  by  Matsu-daira, 
lord  of  Etchiu,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  of  modern 
virtuosi.  Whatever  special  skill  he  possessed  died  with 
him,  for,  since  he  cultivated  keramics  entirely  as  a 
pastime,  he  neither  took  pupils  nor  imparted  his  art 
to  his  children. 

Like  all  noted  amateurs,  Gozaemon  would  probably 
have  found  imitators  in  later  times.  Yet  had  it  not 
been  for  an  accident,  his  name  would  certainly  be 
little  remembered  outside  the  circle  of  connoisseurs 
of  whose  somewhat  archaic  creed  he  was  so  obedient 
a disciple,  and  in  whose  hands  his  comparatively 
scanty  productions  remained.  That  accident  was  the 
discovery  — about  the  year  1830  — of  a recipe  which 
he  had  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  his  enamels. 
The  document  containing  the  precious  formula  had 
found  its  way  into  the  possession  of  a dealer  in  bric-a- 
brac  who  lived  at  Kuwana,  and  whose  son,  Mori 
Yusetsu,  had  already  gained  some  distinction  as  an  imi- 
tator of  Baku  faience.  Fully  appreciating  the  value 
of  the  knowledge  thus  strangely  acquired,  Yusetsu 
immediately  set  himself  to  profit  by  it,  and  in  order  to 
give  his  counterfeit  ware  a greater  semblance  of  au- 
thenticity, he  persuaded  Gozaemon’s  grandson,  Goro- 
bei,  to  sell  him  the  Banko  stamp.  Thus  the  works  of 
the  Ise  amateur  were  again  brought  into  public  notice, 
and  that  rather  by  a freak  of  .fortune  than  by  any 
public  knowledge  of  their  merits.  Yusetsu,  however, 
was  saved  from  performing  the  ignoble  role  of  a mere 
imitator  by  his  quickness  of  observation ; for,  detect- 
ing that  the  Chinese  artists  — whose  works,  like 
Gozaemon,  he  took  as  his  models  — used  moulds 

361 


JAPAN 

applied  internally  for  their  more  elaborate  pieces,  he 
immediately  adopted  that  method  in  his  own  work- 
shop, and  so  caused  the  name  of  Banko  — for  he  still 
continued  to  employ  Gozaemon’s  stamp  — to  be  asso- 
ciated with  the  introduction  of  a valuable  novelty  in 
Japanese  keramics.  It  has  already  been  noticed  that 
the  Kyot5  artist,  Mokubei,  was  the  first  to  follow  the 
Chinese  example  in  the  matter  of  moulds,  but  whereas 
he  fashioned  his  clay  in  the  mould,  Yusetsu  reversed 
the  process  by  putting  the  mould  inside  the  vase 
and  pressing  the  clay  with  the  hand  into  the  matrix. 
The  consequence  is  that  his  pieces  carry  their  design 
on  the  inner  as  well  as  the  outer  surface,  and  are 
moreover  thumb-marked.  Of  course  a mould  thus 
employed  was  necessarily  constructed  on  principles 
different  from  those  which  governed  the  Ky5to  pro- 
cess. The  mould  of  Yusetsu,  instead  of  being  simply 
divided  into  two  parts,  was  built  up  of  six,  eight,  or 
sometimes  twelve  longitudinal  sections,  which  were 
withdrawn  one  by  one  after  they  had  accomplished  their 
purpose.  The  results  displayed  such  clever  modelling 
that  they  subsequently  came  to  be  regarded  as  repre- 
sentative pieces  of  Banko-yaki,  In  fact,  it  is  through 
the  works  of  Yusetsu,  or  rather  through  the  methods  he 
devised,  that  the  Ise  ware  has  attained  the  wide-spread 
popularity  it  now  enjoys  : nor  that  undeservedly,  either, 
for  some  of  the  designs  of  his  school  exhibit  a re- 
markable combination  of  artistic  and  technical  ex- 
cellence. Particularly  worthy  of  mention  are  pieces 
ornamented  with  storks,  dragons,  and  so  forth,  in  relief, 
and  others  with  clever  arabesques  in  coloured  slip  on 
green  or  rich  brown  ground.  All  the  Yusetsu  Banko 
ware  is  faience,  and  the  specimens  are  sometimes 
stamped  “ Yusetsu''  Among  his  productions  a variety 

362 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

which  often  passes,  or  is  made  to  pass,  for  “ Ko-Banko  ’’ 
is  finely  crackled  faience  of  dark  cream  or  light  grey 
tint,  decorated  with  blue  under  the  glaze,  and  above 
it  with  a preponderance  of  red  and  green  floral  de- 
signs, or  red  diapers  among  which  are  reserved  medal- 
lions containing  landscapes  or  mythical  subjects. 
Pieces  in  this  style  bear  a considerable  resemblance  to 
the  modern  Akahada-yaki,  but  even  in  the  absence  of 
marks  the  two  may  be  readily  distinguished,  not  only 
by  the  omission  of  the  blue  in  the  latter,  but  also  by 
its  denser  pate  and  the  yellowish  tinge  of  the  body- 
glaze.  The  amateur  will  generally  be  safe  in  attrib- 
uting specimens  of  this  nature  to  Yusetsu.  Yuyeki, 
originally  called  Yohei,  a younger  brother  of  Yusetsu, 
was  also  an  able  artist  — better,  indeed,  than  Yusetsu 
himself  according  to  some  authorities.  The  reader 
will  perceive  that  in  the  hands  of  Yusetsu  th&  Ban ko- 
ware  underwent  a complete  change  of  character. 
This  alteration  was  carried  still  farther  by  his  son. 
Abandoning  coloured  glazes  and  brilliant  decoration, 
the  younger  Yusetsu  made  beauty  of  form  and  plastic 
skill  his  chief  aims.  In  his  hands  the  Banko-yaki  be- 
came hard,  light,  thin  pottery,  — sometimes  without 
glaze,  sometimes  having  a slight  coat  of  colourless  dia- 
phanous glaze,  — exquisitely  modelled,  the  pate  grey, 
white,  dove-coloured,  chocolate,  or  black,  its  surface 
slightly  roughened,  and  relieved  by  delicately  executed 
designs  in  white  slip. 

His  ware  became  immediately  popular : it  suited 
Japanese  taste  excellently.  Factories  were  opened  in 
1845  t>y  Yamaka  Chiuzaemon  and  Takekawa  Chiku- 
sai ; in  1861  by  Hori  Tomonao  ; in  1876  by  Kuwa- 
mura  Matasuke  ; in  1879  by  Ito  Shohachi  and 
Matsumura  Seikichi,  etc.  The  industry  spread  also 

363 


JAPAN 

to  Yokkaichi,  a seaport  village  near  Kuwana,  where 
some  potters  who  had  formerly  gained  a livelihood  by 
imitating  the  faiences  of  Seto  and  Awata  under  the 
patronage  of  the  Court  of  Yedo,  seeing  themselves 
suddenly  deprived  of  employment  on  the  fall  of  the 
Tokugawa  Regency  in  1868,  had  recourse  to  the 
manufacture  of  Banko  ware  as  the  speediest  means 
of  finding  a new  market.  Thenceforth  this  village 
became  the  principal  seat  of  the  manufacture.  A 
not  very  creditable  story  is  told  of  the  device  by 
which  the  Yokkaichi  potters  made  themselves  masters 
of  the  methods  and  models  of  Yusetsu,  but  at  any 
rate  they  profited  so  well  by  their  acquirement  that 
there  is  scarcely  a house  at  present  in  Toky5  where 
a teapot  or  some  other  utensil  of  their  manufacture 
is  not  in  daily  use.  Quaint  and  very  characteristic 
teapots  they  are,  too,  presenting  all  the  peculiarities 
of  form  — and  many  others  besides  — that  are  to  be 
found  in  Chinese  boccaro^  to  which,  moreover,  the 
pate  bears  some  resemblance  in  its  changes  of  colour. 
It  would  be  impossible  to  enumerate  all  the  varieties 
of  Banko  ware  now  produced  — grey,  chocolate,  or 
dove-coloured  grounds  with  delicate  diapers  in  gold 
and  engobe ; brown  or  black  faience  with  white,  yellow, 
and  pink  designs  incised  or  in  relief ; pottery  curiously 
and  skilfully  marbled  by  combinations  of  various 
coloured  clays,  and  so  forth ; all  presenting  one 
common  feature,  namely,  skilful  finger  moulding  and 
slight  roughening  of  the  surface  as  though  it  had 
received  the  impression  of  coarse  linen  or  crape  before 
baking.  In  short,  the  Banko-yaki  of  to-day  bears  no 
resemblance  to  the  work  of  its  nominal  progenitor, 
Gozaemon.  His  chief  aim  was  the  production  of 
solid  glazes  or  brilliant  enamels  in  the  Chinese  style, 

364 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

whereas  the  tendency  of  the  Ise  artists  is  now  pre- 
eminently plastic,  disposing  them  to  construct  cigar- 
holders  after  the  fashion  of  the  calyx  of  a lotus,  or 
ewers  in  the  shape  of  egg-fruits,  rather  than  to  study 
the  composition  of  glazes  and  enamels.  The  change 
is  decidedly  commendable.  Grace  and  quaintness  of 
conception  are  natural  elements  of  Japanese  genius; 
and  when  to  these  an  infinite  power  of  painstaking  is 
added,  the  total  represents  a combination  especially 
fitted  for  the  production  of  such  works  as  those  found 
in  the  modern  Banko  ware. 


WARES  OF  OMI  PROVINCE 
Zeze-yaki 

The  province  of  Omi  adjoins  that  of  Yamashiro  and 
contains  the  largest  lake  in  Japan,  Biwa  no  Kosui. 
Its  vicinity  to  Kyoto  and  its  exquisite  scenery  render 
it  one  of  the  best  known  parts  of  Japan.  Moreover, 
it  has  always  supplied  the  greater  portion  of  the 
materials  used  in  the  manufacture  of  faience.  Its  own 
keramic  productions  are  not,  however,  very  remark- 
able. Chief  among  them  is  Zeze-yaki,  called  after 
the  district  of  its  manufacture,  which  lies  near  the 
head  of  Lake  Biwa.  The  Zeze-yaki  is  associated 
with  the  name  of  Kobori  Masakazu,  for  at  his  instiga- 
tion the  first  furnace  is  said  to  have  been  erected  by 
order  of  Tadafusa,  feudal  chief  of  Zeze  (a.  d.  1640). 
This,  however,  was  by  no  means  the  earliest  manu- 
facture of  pottery  in  the  district,  for  at  the  village  of 
Nangano  there  exist  the  remains  of  a rude  furnace 
which  is  believed  to  have  been  in  use  as  far  back  as 
the  time  of  Giyogi  Bosatsu,  and,  according  to  some 

365 


JAPAN 

antiquaries,  unglazed  pottery  was  produced  at  a 
place  called  Kagami-yama,  in  Omi,  nineteen  hundred 
years  ago.  At  Oe,  too,  in  the  same  vicinity,  tradition 
says  that  a kiln  was  set  up  in  the  middle  of  the 
fifteenth  century  on  the  occasion  of  the  visit  of  a 
Chinese  keramist  who  called  there  en  route  for'^Owari. 
But  all  this  is  of  small  moment,  since  it  is  quite 
certain  that  no  pieces  of  Zeze-yaki  possessing  any 
merit  were  produced  before  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  Of  the  ware  turned  out  then  and 
subsequently  there  are  five  varieties,  viz.,  Oe^  Seta, 
Kokubu,  Barin,  and  Susume-ga-tani,  The  first  three  are 
known  as  Furu-Zeze,  or  Old  Zeze,  and  the  two  last 
as  Shin-Zeze,  or  New  Zeze.  That  of  Oe  is  the  oldest 
of  all.  It  consisted  almost  entirely  of  tea-utensils, 
resembling  the  old  Seto  pottery,  and  of  such  excellent 
finish  that  their  reputation  is  scarcely  second  to  that 
of  Takatori  masterpieces.  Golden  brown,  russet, 
and  purplish  glazes,  of  remarkable  lustre  and  richness, 
cover  carefully  manipulated  dark  grey  and  very  fine 
pate,  and  it  seems  not  unlikely  that  the  cessation  of  the 
manufacture  alone  prevented  it  from  attaining  a very 
high  place  among  the  keramic  efforts  of  Japan. 
During  Tadafusa’s  lifetime  specimens  of  this  Oe-yaki 
were  sent  as  presents  to  many  nobles  and  virtuosi,  so  that 
the  ware  attained  considerable  reputation.  But  in  the 
early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  factory  was 
closed,  for  some  unascertained  reason,  and  its  site  is 
now  a vegetable-garden. 

The  Seta-yaki  dates  from  a period  somewhat  subse- 
quent to  that  of  Oe,  which,  for  the  rest,  it  resembles 
in  almost  every  particular  except  that  the  workman- 
ship is  slightly  inferior.  The  village  of  Seta,  where 
it  was  manufactured,  lies  within  a short  distance  of 

366 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

Oe.  The  production  ceased  about  a.  d.  1700,  but 
was  revived  in  1801  by  an  amateur,  Ikeda  Mompei, 
who  departed  somewhat  from  the  fashions  of  his 
predecessors.  His  specialty  lay  in  polychrome  glazes, 
among  which  his  most  noteworthy  manufacture  was 
red  glaze  passing  into  green  and  buff  and  overlaid  by 
a blush  of  blue.  The  pate  of  this  second-period  Seta- 
yaki  is  coarser  and  more  sandy  than  that  of  the  old 
ware  : its  colour  is  light  buff.  Mompei  was  succeeded 
by  his  son,  who  obtained  the  assistance  of  some 
experts  from  Kyoto,  and  added  to  the  Seta  productions 
a ware  resembling  that  of  Awata  but  of  inferior 
quality. 

The  Kokubu-yaki  was  first  manufactured  at  a village 
of  the  same  name,  about  1660,  and,  as  might  be 
expected,  Ninsei's  influence,  which  was  just  then 
beginning  to  effect  a thorough  metamorphosis  in  the 
character  of  Japanese  faience,  did  not  fail  to  make 
itself  felt  in  the  province  of  Omi  also.  The  finely 
crackled  Awata  pottery  was  taken  as  a model  by  the 
workmen  of  Kokubu,  so  that  the  only  immediately 
apparent  difference  between  their  ware  and  that  of 
Kyot5  is  absence  of  coloured  enamels  in  the  former, 
its  decoration  generally  consisting  of  some  simple 
floral  subject  painted  in  black.  The  manufacture 
came  to  an  end  in  1725. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  the  manu- 
facture of  faience  called  Barin-yaki  was  commenced  in 
the  village  of  Minami-bata,  in  the  same  province  of 
Omi.  This  was  altogether  different  from  its  prede- 
cessors, being  an  imitation  of  the  so-called  Cochin- 
Chinese  style ; that  is  to  say,  faience  covered  with 
green,  yellow,  and  purplish  glazes.  The  coloured 
glazes  were,  however,  invariably  toned  down  almost 

367 


JAPAN 

to  dulness,  and  this  peculiarity,  as  well  as  very  fine 
crackle  and  reddish  brown  pate,  soft  and  close  in 
grain,  constitute  the  characteristic  features  of  the  ware. 
The  manufacture  was  only  carried  on  for  a very  short 
time,  so  that  specimens  are  now  exceedingly  rare. 

Considerably  more  modern  is  the  Susume-ga-tani-yaki 
which  made  its  first  appearance  in  1867.  It  is  called 
after  a valley  of  the  same  name  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  village  of  Awazu.  It  is  a clumsy  imitation  of 
Koyomidzu  faience,  some  of  the  pieces  being  decora- 
ted with  coloured  enamels  and  some  with  polychrome 
glazes,  but  none  presenting  either  originality  or 
artistic  merit.  .In  1867  the.  factory  came  into  the 
hands  of  a merchant  called  Inoue  Ikuemon,  and 
there  are  now  several  kilns  at  which  coarse  utensils 
are  produced. 

In  connection  with  the  Zeze-yaki,  mention  must  ' 
be  made  of  faience  manufactured  by  a workman  of 
Kyot5,.  called  Torakichi,  who,  about  the  year  1840, 
set  up  a kiln  in  the  neighbourhood,  of  Hachidai-riuo, 
in  Omi.  Little  is  known  of  his  productions,  but 
they  are  said  to  have  been  shapely,  well  finished,  and 
decorated  with  simple  designs  in  black  or  brown. 
The  manufacture  was  only  continued  for  a very  short . 
time.  Torakichi's  pieces  are  called  Zeze-Tora-yaki, 
to  distinguish  them  from  Zeze-yaki  proper, 

Shigaraki-yaki 

Within  a few  miles  of  the  group  of  Zeze  kilns, 
and  in  the  same  province  of  Omi,  is  a place  called 
Shigaraki,  in  the  Nagano  district,  where  a factory  for 
the  manufacture  of  pottery  existed  as  long  ago  as  the. 
fourteenth  century.  The  pate  of  the  ware  produced 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

there  was  coarse  and  very  hard,  with  a considerable 
admixture  of  sand  : it  belongs  to  the  category  of 
stone-ware  rather  than  of  pottery.  In  the  early  days 
of  the  factory’s  existence  its  outcome  consisted  entirely 
of  rude  household  utensils.  But  about  the  year  1520 
it  attracted  the  attention  of  Sho5,  a well-known  chajin. 
At  his  instigation  the  potters  set  themselves  to  court 
the  patronage  of  the  tea-clubs  by  imitating  the  Seto 
methods.  Their  most  characteristic  manufacture  was 
hard,  close  faience,  having  a body  glaze  of  amber  red, 
over  which  was  run  semi-diaphanous  green  or  brown 
glaze.  They  produced  also  thin  brown  glazes,  plain, 
streaked  with  black  or  spotted  with  white ; and 
occasionally  they  resorted  to  the  curious  device  of 
imbedding  little  fragments  of  quartz  in  the  glaze  ; 
a fashion  said  to  have  been  suggested  by  the  Chinese 
habit  of  jewelling  choice  bronzes.  Shigaraki  ware 
of  this  period  received  the  name  of  S/iod- Shigaraki,  in 
reference  to  its  patron.  Shoo.  Towards  the  close  of 
the  same  century  — sixteenth  — the  factory  attracted 
the  special  attention  of  the  great  chajin  Sen  no  Rikiu, 
and  its  productions  of  that  era  were  distinguished  as 
Rikiu- Shigaraki.  They  resemble  the  greyish  craquele 
faience  of  Korea.  A little  later  (about  1630)  appeared 
the  Soton-shigaraki,  a faience  having  white  pate  and 
craquele  buff  glaze,  which  derived  its  name  from  the 
chajin  Sotan.  The  Enshiu-shigaraki,  called  after 
Kobori  Masakazu,  lord  of  Enshiu  (1650)  is  another 
variety,  offering  no  distinctive  features,  but  valued  by 
the  tea-clubs  for  the  sake  of  its  orthodox  shapes  and 
sober  glazes.  Many  specimens  of  old  Shigaraki  ware 
show  the  mark  known  as  geta-okoshi,  produced  by  two 
wooden  supports  resembling  those  of  a clog  {geta'J,  on 
which  the  piece  was  placed  before  firing.  Tea-Jars 

VOL.  VIII.  — 24  260 


JAPAN 

of  Shigaraki-yakiy  always  valued  on  account  of  the 
conservative  qualities  of  the  clay,  were  brought  into 
special  fashion  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century, 
owing  to  their  use  at  the  Shogun's  Court  in  Yedo. 
At  present  there  are  several  factories  in  the  Nagano 
district,  but  their  productions  are  limited  to  coarse 
household  utensils. 

Shigaraki  is  interesting  for  another  reason.  Its 
clay  was  largely  employed  by  the  potters  of  Kyoto, 
especially  those  of  Kyomizu.  This  clay  has  been 
analysed  by  Mr.  R.  W.  Atkinson,  and  found  to  con- 
sist of  the  following  ingredients  : — 

SHIGARAKI  CLAY 


Moisture 3*i6 

Combined  water 7.00 

Silica 56.87 

Alumina 28.56 

Ferric  oxide .98 

Lime .69 

Magnesia .47 

Potash 2.08 

Soda .06 


Nagarasan-yaki 

Near  the  town  of  Otsu,  in  the  province  of  Omi, 
is  a well-known  hill  called  Miidera-yama.  There, 
about  the  year  1830,  a kiln  was  established  for  the 
manufacture  of  faience,  but  little  is  known  with  re- 
gard to  the  origin  of  the  enterprise.  Probably  very 
few  pieces  were  produced,  for  specimens  are  now 
scarcely  obtainable.  The  potters  seem  to  have  made 
polychrome  glazes  a specialty.  It  is  said  that  Zengoro 
Hozen,  the  great  Kyot5  artist,  worked  for  some  time 
at  Nagarasan  after  the  destruction  of  his  own  house 
by  fire,  and  that  shortly  after  his  departure  for  Yedo 

370 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

the  Miidera  factory  was  abandoned.  At  all  events, 
the  ware  is  unimportant  and  deserves  only  passing 
mention. 

Koto-yaki 

This  ware  also  is  among  the  manufactures  of  the 
province  of  Omi.  The  factory  was  established  within 
the  territory  of  the  chief  of  Hikone,  near  the  eastern 
shore  of  Lake  Biwa  — the  name  Koto  signifies  “ east 
of  the  lake  ” — about  the  year  1830.  Its  chief  out- 
come from  the  first  was  porcelain  decorated  with  blue 
under  the  glaze.  Considerable  quantities  were  pro- 
duced, for  the  ware  found  a ready  sale  in  the  form  of 
plates,  bowls,  and  other  vessels  of  daily  use.  The 
biscuit  is  sometimes  hard,  ringing  nearly  as  sharply 
and  clearly  as  that  of  Hizen;  sometimes  it  is  grey 
stone-ware ; the  blue  is  deep  and  full,  and  the  glaze 
has  a peculiarly  soft,  lustrous,  oily  appearance  that 
constitutes  an  easily  recognised  feature.  The  faults 
of  Koto  porcelain  of  this  class  are  want  of  contrast  be- 
tween the  white  ground  and  the  blue  decoration,  and 
too  much  solidity  of  biscuit.  Otherwise  the  ware 
has  considerable  merit.  Specimens  are  found  bearing 
the  cachet  of  the  great  Kyoto  artist,  Zengoro  Hozen, 
or  Eiraku,  who  worked  for  some  years  at  Kyoto  after 
the  destruction  of  his  Kyoto  residence  by  fire.  The 
designs  are  generally  formal,  — floral  scrolls,  ara- 
besques, and  diapers.  The  Koto  potters  excelled, 
also,  in  the  use  of  enamelled  decoration.  They  pre- 
pared their  green,  yellow,  red,  purple,  and  blue 
enamels  with  the  greatest  care,  and  applied  them  with 
admirable  skill,  sometimes  copying  the  decorative 
methods  of  the  Ching-hwa  and  Wan-li  Chinese  artists, 
and  sometimes  borrowing  designs  from  the  Kano 

371 


JAPAN 

school  of  pictorial  art.  In  the  latter  variety  the  pig- 
ments used  are,  for  the  most  part,  confined  to  red  and 
gold,  and  the  decoration  is  of  profuse  and  elabo- 
rate character,  — landscapes,  floral  subjects,  mythical 
figures,  and  so  forth,  being  the  general  motives.  The 
factory  was  closed  immediately  after  the  assassina- 
tion of  the  celebrated  li  Kamon-no  Kami,  feudal 
chief  of  Hikone,  in  i860,  and  has  not  since  been 
re-opened. 


WARES  OF  HARIMA  (BANSHU) 

The  province  of  Harima  lies  on  the  Inland  Sea,  to 
a large  portion  of  which  it  gives  its  name  (Harima 
Nada).  It  has  never  been  remarkable  for  its  potteries. 
The  best  ware  manufactured  there  is  the 

Himeji-yaki,  or  Tozan-yaki 

This  is  porcelain  of  two  varieties,  blue-and-white 
and  celadon.  The  factory  was  established  at  Himeji, 
one  of  the  principal  towns  in  the  province,  during  the 
Kan-ei  era  (1624—1643)  under  the  patronage  of  the 
lord  of  the  fief — Sakai  Uta  no  Kami  — for  whose 
family  and  retainers  the  ware  was  principally  destined. 
Materials  were  obtained  from  a hill,  called  Tozan,  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  town ; hence  the  term  Tozan-yakt. 
The  biscuit  was  not  of  first-class  quality,  but  the  blue 
decoration  was  often  spirited  in  execution  and  of  pure, 
brilliant  tint.  The  celadon  was  tolerably  good,  but 
distinctly  inferior  to  that  of  Nabeshima  (Hizen).  The 
productions  of  the  kiln  consisted,  for  the  most  part,  of 
small  pieces,  such  as  wine-bottles,  cups,  bowls,  tea- 
pots, ewers,  and  so  forth.  The  manufacture  ceased 
to  be  profitable  after  the  abolition  of  feudalism 

372 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

(1868),  and  is  now  limited  to  coarse  ware  for  do- 
mestic use. 

Maiko-yaki 

This  is  faience  or  stone-ware,  produced  at  Maiko, 
in  the  Akashi  district  of  Harima.  The  manufacture 
was  inaugurated  in  1820  by  Mikuni  Kyuhachi,  whose 
grandson,  Mosaburo,  still  carries  it  on.  The  Maiko- 
yaki  never  aspired  to  be  called  a decorative  product. 
It  was  grey  stone-ware,  or  faience,  covered  with  di- 
aphanous glaze,  the  only  ornamentation  being  brown 
mottling  or  speckles.  Sometimes,  however,  as  is 
generally  the  case  with  the  ruder  wares  of  Japan, 
ingenious  and  artistic  specimens  of  modelling  are  to 
be  found  among  the  works  of  the  Maiko  potters. 

Akashi-yaki 

Akashi  is  the  first  town  which  a traveller  by  the 
Tokaido,  or  great  trunk  road  of  Japan,  reaches  after 
entering  the  province  of  Harima.  Tradition  says 
that  a factory  was  established  in  the  Akashi  district  by 
the  great  Ky5to  artist  (Nomura  Ninsei),  about  1650, 
at  the  request  of  the  feudal  chief  of  the  province, 
and  that  faience  after  the  Kyoto  style,  but  of  very 
inferior  quality,  was  produced.  But  the  reputation 
of  the  ware  never  succeeded  in  extending  beyond  the 
district  of  its  manufacture. 

Another  variety  of  Akashi  ware  is  popularly  known 
as  Annam-yaki.  It  is  rude,  brown  pottery,  thinly 
glazed,  and  depending  entirely  upon  conceits  of  shape. 
Its  name  is  derived  from  its  resemblance  to  faience 
supposed  to  have  been  imported  from  Annam.  This 
manufacture  was  inaugurated  by  Yakichi,  son  of 
Mikuni  Kyuhachi,  the  originator  of  the  Maiko-yaki. 

373 


JAPAN 

It  is  now  carried  on  not  only  at  the  Maiko  factory, 
but  also  by  Tsuji  Seizaemon,  at  Matsukage,  in  the 
same  district. 

Y et  another  variety  of  Akashi  ware  is  the  Shudei- 
yaki,  manufactured  by  Fuji  Tsunez5,  of  Kanegasaki, 
with  clay  obtained  from  Matsukage,  in  the  same  dis- 
trict. “ Shudei  ’’  literally  signifies  ‘‘  red  clay.”  It  is 
a name  given  by  the  Japanese  to  Chinese  boccaro,  the 
celebrated  pottery  of  Yi-hsiang.  Chinese  boccaro 
was  imitated  with  some  success  by  Kyot5  artists,  but 
Japan  never  furnished  materials  for  this  class  of  ware 
comparable  with  those  of  Yi-hsiang.  The  Shudei-yaki 
of  Akashi  is  inferior  to  that  of  Kyoto,  and  is  used 
principally  in  the  manufacture  of  common  utensils. 

Within  the  past  few  years  a ware  called  Asagiri- 
yaki  has  been  produced  at  Matsukage,  in  the  Akashi 
district,  by  Teraoka  Genjiro,  and  a ware  called 
Uozumi-yaki,  at  Nakano,  in  the  same  district,  by  Ni- 
shino-umi  Otosuke.  The  term  Uozumi  is  derived 
from  the  ancient  name  of  the  district. 


WARES  OF  KISHIU  (WAKAYAMA  PREFECTURE) 
Oniwa-yakiy  or  Kairaku-en-yaki 

A little  more  than  half  a mile  westward  of  the 
town  of  Wakayama,  in  the  province  of  Kishiu  stood 
formerly  the  country  residence  of  the  family  whose 
representatives  governed  the  district.  Within  the 
park  of  this  mansion  (called  Nishihama),  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  present  century,  Tokugawa  Harunori, 
then  head  of  the  family,  caused  a private  kiln  to 
be  built  for  the  manufacture  of  porcelain  deco- 
rated with  blue  under  the  glaze.  It  has  been 

374 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

shown  that  the  porcelain  industry,  as  distinguished 
from  that  of  pottery  and  faience,  received  a notable 
impulse  in  the  opening  years  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  The  Nishihama  factory  is  an  example  of 
this  development.  Very  little  is  known  of  its  first 
productions.  They  were  completely  lost  sight  of 
when,  in  1827,  Harunori,  after  one  of  his  periodical 
visits  to  Kyot5,  brought  back  with  him  the  already 
renowned  keramist,  Zengoro  Hozen.  The  character 
of  the  Kishiu-yaki  immediately  underwent  a complete 
change.  Zengoro  had  made  his  name  by  imitating 
the  brilliant  glazes  of  the  so-called  Cochin-Chinese 
faience,  and  to  this  species  of  work  he  applied  himself 
at  Harunori's  factory.  The  outcome  of  the  kiln  was 
thenceforth  known  as  Oniwa-yaki  (ware  of  the  honour- 
able park)  or  Kairaku-en-yaki  (ware  of  the  park  of 
ease  and  fellowship).  The  pate,  sometimes  white, 
sometimes  reddish  grey,  was  very  fine,  varying  from 
porcelain  to  faience,  but  being  for  the  most  part  hard 
stone-ware.  The  glazes  were  remarkably  rich  and 
beautiful  : purple,  green,  turquoise,  yellow,  and  white. 
They  were  employed  in  various  ways.  Perhaps  the 
most  common  was  a purple  ground  covered  with 
scroll-work  in  relief,  portions  of  the  scroll  being  filled 
with  turquoise  blue.  In  other  and  even  more  ex- 
cellent pieces  there  is  found  rich  green  ground  marbled 
with  purple,  or  decorated  with  medallions  in  yellow, 
purple,  white,  and  blue.  Glazes  showing  greater  rich- 
ness, lustre,  and  purity  of  colour  were  never  produced 
by  any  Japanese  potter.  Harunori  loaded  Zengoro 
with  favours,  and  bestowed  on  him  three  seals ; two 
of  silver,  bearing  the  inscriptions  Kairaku-en  and 
Eiraku,  and  one  of  gold,  inscribed  Kahin  Shiriu. 
Japanese  antiquaries  say  that  the  term  Kahin  Shiriu 

375 


JAPAN 

(branch  of  Kahili)  has  reference  to  the  earliest  pottery 
of  China,  which,  according  to  them,  was  manufac- 
tured by  an  artist  called  Chun  at  the  kiln  of  Kahin 
(Chinese  Hopin),  about  3000  years  ago.  This  point 
is  involved  in  obscurity.  Eiraku,  as  already  explained 
{vide  Kyot5  wares),  is  the  Japanese  pronunciation 
of  the  Chinese  period  Tung-lo  (1403-1425),  during 
which  was  first  produced  the  celebrated  “rouge  vif’’ 
with  decoration  in  gold.  Zengoro  never  allowed  any 
specimen  to  leave  his  hands  bearing  the  stamp  Kahin 
Shiriu  unless  he  was  thoroughly  satisfied  with  the 
success  of  his  work.  Sometimes  he  added  the  mark 
Eiraku,  and  in  many  cases  his  imitations  of  the 
Chinese  turquoise-blues  and  purples  are  stamped 
simply  “ Kairaku-ken.  He  generally  worked  to 
order,  and  it  is  said  to  have  been  his  habit  to 
manufacture  from  five  to  ten  specimens  of  any 
piece  which  he  had  undertaken  to  produce.  Of 
these  the  best  was  chosen,  and  the  remainder  were 
destroyed  in  the  presence  of  the  person  who  had 
given  the  order.  He  appears  to  have  remained  some 
eight  or  nine  years  in  Kishiu,  and  after  his  return 
to  Kyoto  the  Nishihama  factory  was  placed  under 
the  direction  of  another  workman  from  the  West- 
ern capital,  by  name  Yoshihei.  It  would  appear, 
however,  that  Zengoro’s  glazes  were  not  to  be  com- 
passed by  any  other  expert.  The  Kairabu  ware 
gradually  lost  its  high  character,  and  on  Harunori’s 
death,  in  1844,  the  manufacture  came  to  an  end. 

Otoko-yama-yaki 

The  Kairakuen-yaki  was  one  of  the  first  to  attract  the 
attention  of  Western  collectors  after  the  opening  of 

376 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

Japan  to  foreign  intercourse,  and  a considerable  num- 
ber of  pieces  found  their  way  to  Europe.  Good  speci- 
mens are  now  almost  unprocurable.  Those  usually 
offered  for  sale  are  the  productions  of  one  of  three 
factories ; namely,  Otokoyama,  Ota,  or  Etchujima. 
Otokoyama  is  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Nishihama,  in 
the  same  province  of  Kishiu.  A kiln  was  set  up  there 
about  the  year  1847,  until  1866  wares  were  pro- 
duced, some  after  the  fashion  of  the  original  Kaira- 
kuen-yaki^  some  decorated  with  bleu  sous  couverte^  and 
some  having  celadon  glazes.  They  were  by  no  means 
of  first-class  quality.  The  celadons  and  blue-and-whites 
were  marked  Nanki  Otoko-yama,  but  the  imitations  of 
the  Onlwa-yaki  generally  bore  no  cachet,  Ota  is  a 
village  lying  some  three  miles  to  the  east  of  Nishihama. 
Up  to  the  year  1874  the  keramic  industry  had  not 
been  carried  on  there.  But  at  that  date  a workman 
called  Miyai  Saguro,  inspired  by  the  favour  which  the 
original  Kairakuen-yaki  found  with  foreign  collectors, 
opened  a factory  at  Ota,  and  attempted  to  reproduce 
Hozen’s  inimitable  glazes.  He  failed  signally,  but 
there  is  no  doubt  that  many  of  his  pieces  were  sold  to 
unwary  amateurs.  The  same  prospect  of  gain  led 
simultaneously  to  the  opening  of  another  factory  at 
Etchujima,  in  Tokyo,  so  that  the  market  was  flooded 
for  a time  with  gaudily  glazed  vases  of  most  faulty 
technique,  some  of  which  were  exported,  while  others 
gravitated  to  their  proper  level  in  the  windows  of 
barbers’  shops  or  on  the  shelves  of  lumber-stores  in  the 
purlieus  of  the  metropolis. 

It  may  be  added  here,  with  regard  to  the  Ota-yaki 
mentioned  above,  that  after  Miyai’s  attempt  to  repro- 
duce the  Oniwa-yaki  had  failed,  two  of  his  fellow- 
workmen,  Shosaburo  and  Sensuke,  turned  their  attention 

377 


JAPAN 

to  the  production  of flambe  glazes  after  Chinese  models. 
These  were  often  tolerably  successful,  but  the  number 
of  failures  was  always  so  great  that  the  price  of  the 
successful  pieces  became  well-nigh  prohibitive,  and 
the  manufacture  is  consequently  no  longer  carried  on. 

Meppo-yaki 

Another  factory  of  some  importance  in  Kiahiu  is  that 
of  Meppo,  which  was  established  at  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  or  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Its  productions  were  almost  entirely  confined  to  cUa- 
dons.  They  are  known  either  as  Meppo-yaki  or  Zuishi- 
yaki.  Good  specimens  are  generally  stamped  ‘‘  ZuisW 
[vide  Plates),  that  designation  being  employed  because 
the  green  colour  of  the  porcelain  was  supposed  to  re- 
semble that  of  a grass  called  Zuishi  which  grew  in 
profusion  near  the  site  of  the  manufacture.  The  ware 
is,  for  the  most  part  ornamented  with  designs  in  relief 
under  the  glaze,  and  these  are  often  executed  with 
considerable  skill.  Rokuro,  a pupil  of  the  celebrated 
Kyoto  artist  Rokubei,  was  the  first  workman  of  note 
employed  at  the  factory.  During  his  time  the  Meppo- 
yakin  enjoyed  considerable  reputation,  but  it  gradually 
fell  into  disfavour,  and,  in  spite  of  some  fitful  support 
from  Tanzan  of  Kyoto  and  others,  the  manufacture 
was  finally  abandoned  a few  years  ago. 


WARES  OF  SETTSU  (HYOGO  PREFECTURE) 
Kobe-yaki 

It  will  be  convenient  here  to  pass  from  the  province 
of  Kishiu  to  that  of  Settsu,  in  order  to  speak  of  the 
present  representative  of  the  beautiful  Oniwa-yah  [vide 

37B 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

wares  of  Kishiu).  This  is  faience  the  manufacture 
of  which  was  commenced  by  Hotta  Sozaburo,  in  1877, 
in  Kobe.  At  first  the  venture  proved  a commercial 
failure.  The  refractory  nature  of  the  local  clays  con- 
stituted an  almost  insuperable  difficulty,  and  it  became 
necessary  to  import  materials,  of  which  those  obtained 
from  Hizen  gave  the  most  satisfactory  results.  With 
any  other  pate  — and  even  with  this,  though  in  a less 
degree  — the  production  of  uniform  glaze  appeared  to 
be  little  better  than  a matter  of  accident,  so  that  some- 
times among  a hundred  pieces  stoved  not  one  emerged 
without  some  serious  defect.  Such  conditions  were, 
of  course,  prohibitory,  and  before  long  Akamatsu 
Eiji,  the  only  workman  whose  achievements  were  of 
much  promise,  was  obliged  to  abandon  the  undertak- 
ing. Subsequently,  however,  the  manufacture  was  re- 
vived on  a larger  scale  and  with  a purely  commercial 
aim.  It  was  found  that  blue  and  purple  glazes  could 
be  turned  out  in  great  quantities  at  a very  trifling  cost, 
and  that  America  offered  a ready  market  for  such 
specimens.  A tolerably  flourishing  trade  accordingly 
sprang  up,  and  from  K5be  were  exported  some  thou- 
sands of  pieces  yearly,  a great  many  of  which  were  not 
free  from  gross  blemishes  — as,  for  example,  serious 
faults  in  the  pate  or  solutions  of  continuity  in  the 
glaze  — while  the  majority  were  crude,  ill-fired,  and 
unsatisfactory,  only  redeemed  from  hopeless  mediocrity 
by  their  brilliant  effect  as  decorative  pieces  and  by  the 
accidental  skill  sometimes  displayed  in  the  combina- 
tions of  their  colours.  The  latter,  though  rich  and 
often  lustrous,  lacked  uniformity,  especially  at  the 
edges  and  other  salient  points,  and  could  not  bear 
comparison  with  the  aubergine  and  turquoise-blues  of 
Zengoro.  The  pate  had  a chalky  appearance,  and  the 

379 


JAPAN 

glaze  was  usually  traversed  by  accidental  crackle. 
Within  the  past  few  years,  however,  very  great  im- 
provements have  been  made  in  the  manufacture  of 
this  ware.  No  mean  degree  of  technical  skill  has 
been  developed.  Pure,  delicate  colours  — especially 
turquoise-blue  and  purple  — are  obtained  ; the  crackle 
is  fine  and  uniform,  and  the  glazes  are  seldom  dis- 
figured by  faults  such  as  used  formerly  to  be  con- 
stantly apparent. 

Sanda-yaki 

Tradition  says  that  a factory  for  the  manufacture  of 
porcelain  was  established  in  the  Arima  district  of  Settsu, 
in  1 690,  by  order  of  Kuki,  feudal  chief  of  the  province. 
Its  productions,  rude  faience  after  Korean  models,  at- 
tracted no  attention  until  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  when  Kanda  Sobei,  a merchant  of  Sanda, 
caused  twelve  kilns  to  be  constructed  at  Inugahara,  in 
the  same  district,  and  engaged  experts  from  Kyot5 
and  Hizen  to  manufacture  blue-and-white  porcelain. 
In  1801  this  same  Kanda,  or,  according  to  some 
authorities,  two  potters,  Uchigami  and  Ippei,  discov- 
ered materials  suitable  for  making  celadon  at  Koishidani, 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  factory.  Thenceforth 
celadon  became  a staple  article  of  production  at  Inuga- 
hara. From  Kyoto  were  obtained  the  services  of 
Shuhei,  Kumakichi,  and  Kamesuke,  all  artists  of  note, 
and  with  their  aid  the  Sanda-Seiji,  as  the  new  celadon 
was  called,  justly  attained  great  popularity.  It  was 
ware  of  much  merit,  but  its  bright  green  colour  could 
not  compare  with  the  beautiful  glazes  of  the  old 
Chinese  celadons,  and  was  even  inferior  to  the  delicate 
tinge  of  the  Nabeshima-Seiji,  manufactured  at  Oka- 
wachi,  in  Hizen.  The  pate  varied  from  dense  but 

380 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

close-grained  stone-ware  to  porcelain.  The  invention 
of  this  Sanda-Seiji  gave  a great  impetus  to  keramic 
industry  in  the  Arima  district.  The  number  of  kilns 
increased  considerably.  Porcelains  decorated  with 
blue  under  the  glaze  and  with  enamels  over  it,  applied 
in  the  archaic  style  of  early  Chinese  wares,  were  also 
produced,  but  they  present  no  specially  noteworthy 
feature.  On  Sobei's  death,  in  1828,  the  factories  were 
about  to  be  closed,  when  Mukai  Kidayu  purchased 
them  and  continued  the  industry  on  a smaller  scale. 
He  abandoned  it  in  1850,  but  four  years  afterwards 
the  kilns  were  re-opened  by  Tanaka  Riemon.  Their 
outcome,  however,  was  palpably  inferior  to  the  pro- 
ductions of  Kanda  Sobei’s  time. 

Kosobe-yaki 

Though  Settsu  is  known  to  foreign  collectors  prin- 
cipally through  the  celadon  of  Sanda,  two  other  wares, 
esteemed  by  the  Japanese  tea-clubs,  belong  to  the  same 
province.  They  are  the  Kosobe-yaki  and  the  Sakurai- 
yaki,  both  being  faiences.  The  former  was  first  pro- 
duced, in  1799,  at  the  village  of  Kosobe,  by  Igarashi 
Shimpei,  a potter  who  had  studied  keramic  processes 
at  Kyoto,  and  whose  works  were  consequently  little 
more  than  imitations  of  Ninsei  and  Raku.  His  suc- 
cessor, Shinzo,  on  the  other  hand,  took  his  models 
from  Takatori,  Karatsu,  and  Korea ; while  Shingoro, 
the  third  and  present  representative  of  the  family, 
sent  to  Kyot5  for  workmen,  and  by  their  aid  produced 
some  very  good  pieces  after  the  style  of  Rokubei. 
Among  the  most  valued  examples  of  Kosobe-yaki, 
however,  are  those  by  an  amateur,  Tasuke  Dainen, 
who  flourished  between  1840  and  1870.  Originally 

381 


JAPAN 

a dealer  in  bric-a-brac,  the  choice  specimens  which 
passed  through  his  hands  supplied  models  of  unusual 
merit,  and  the  designs  he  employed  in  the  decoration 
of  his  pieces  were  thoroughly  artistic  both  in  choice 
and  execution.  The  pb^te  of  the  Kosobe-yaki  is  hard 
and  fine,  but  somewhat  sandy ; it  varies  in  colour  from 
dark-grey  to  reddish  white.  The  glaze  is  sometimes 
pearl-grey,  sometimes  reddish  buff,  and  sometimes 
white.  The  decoration  is  for  the  most  part  confined 
to  slight  sketches  in  black  or  brown.  Dainen’s  works 
may  generally  be  known  by  the  predominance  of  a 
peculiar  russet-brown  enamel. 

Sakurai-yaki 

The  manufacture  of  this  ware  was  commenced  at 
Sakurai,  in  the  Shimokami  district  of  Settsu,  by  Kyo- 
mizu  Kanzo,  in  1782,  who  is  said  to  have  been  a 
pupil  of  the  Kyoto  expert  Ogata  Shuhei.  Both  Shu- 
hei  and  Mokubei  are  reported  to  have  themselves 
visited  the  factory  and  helped  to  inaugurate  the  in- 
dustry, but  there  is  little  authority  for  this  statement. 
At  all  events,  the  Kyoto  style  was  adopted.  Materials 
were  obtained  sometimes  from  the  province  of  Yama- 
shiro  and  sometimes  from  Shigaraki  (in  Omi),  as  well 
as  from  the  island  of  Amakusa.  The  pate  was  very 
light  buff,  generally  close  in  texture.  The  glaze  was 
white,  occasionally  with  a greenish  tinge  or  flecked 
with  red.  The  designs  generally  consisted  of  pine- 
trees,  floral  subjects,  and  verses  of  poetry,  executed  in 
black,  brown,  violet,  and  blue.  Kyomizu  Kanzo  was 
succeeded  by  Tazaemon,  and  the  latter  by  Tajuro,  the 
present  artist.  The  outcome  of  the  factory  is  now 
insignificant. 


382 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

Kikko-yaki 

This  is  a faience  little  known  outside  Japan.  The 
manufacture  was  commenced  about  fifty  years  ago  in 
Osaka,  at  a place  called  Juso-mura,  by  a workman 
named  Kikko.  It  was  an  exact  imitation  of  the 
Raku  ware  of  Kyot5,  except  that  coloured  glazes  were 
used  with  greater  freedom.  Some  of  the  specimens 
were  well  modelled  and  quaint.  The  ware  need  not 
be  further  described,  since  it  may  be  classed  with  the 
Raku  faience  of  Kyoto. 

Takahara-yaki 

This  is  faience  of  archaic  type.  It  owed  whatever 
measure  of  public  favour  it  received  to  the  patronage 
of  Doi,  feudal  chief  of  Osumi,  who  flourished  in  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Using  clay  found 
at  Kurodani  in  Yamashiro,  the  potters  of  Takahara 
took  Korean  wares  as  their  type,  copying  especially  a 
variety  known  in  Japan  as  Gohotiy  or  ‘‘  honourable 
model.’’  This  was  crackled  faience,  having  grey  or 
buff  glaze,  with  designs  in  white  under  the  glaze. 
Sometimes  the  decoration  is  in  reddish  brown 
[Shibu-e), 

Naniwa-yaki 

In  olden  times  Osaka  was  known  as  Naniwa.  In 
a suburb  of  the  city  there  was  established,  towards  the 
close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  a workshop  at  which 
faience  of  some  merit  was  produced.  Its  pate  was 
coarse  and  grey  in  colour.  The  glazes  used  were 
green  and  black,  and  sometimes  designs  in  light-blue 
were  painted  under  a colourless  glaze.  Flower-vases 
of  quaint  shapes,  as  for  example  peonies,  vine-leaves, 

383 


JAPAN 

bamboos,  and  so  forth,  were  produced.  The  ware  is 
little  known,  and  never  occupied  a place  of  any  im- 
portance in  Japan’s  keramic  productions. 

. WARES  OF  YEDO,  OR  TOKYO 

Strange  to  say,  Yedo'  (now  Tokyo),  the. eastern 
capital,  and  during  three  centuries  the  seat  of  the 
chief  executive,  power  of  Japan,  did  not  possess  any 
potteries  worthy  of  note  in  former  times.  The  first 
factory  established  there  (1630),  under  the  auspices 
of  lyemitsu,  third  Shogun  of  the  Tdkugawa  dynasty, 
proved  a complete  failure.  It  was  in  the  quarter  of 
the  city  called  Asakusa,  near  the  gate  of  the  now  cele- 
brated temple  of  Monzeki,.  and  the  workmen'  em- 
ployed were  specially  summoned  from  Settsu,  where, 
as  has  been  already  mentioned,  the  manufacture  of 
faience  in  Korean  style  had  been  carried  on  since  the- 
beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century.  * The  ware 
potted  at  Asakusa  was  of  a similar  nature,  but  the 
materials,  being  those. found  in  the  neighbourhood, 
were  of  most  inferior  quality..  The. result  was  so 
discouraging  that  the  undertaking  was  ^ very  soon 
abandoned. 

Imado-yaki 

In  the  same  district,  .at  a place  called  Imado,  is 
another  factory  which,  whatever  the  merit  of  its  pro- 
ductions, struggled  on  through  ill  report  and  good 
report  until  a road  to  comparative  prosperity- was  at 
last  opened  to  it.  To  what  period  the  establishment* 
of  the  kiln  niay  be  attributed  is  not  very.. accurately 
known,  but  its  founder,  is  said  to  have  been  a vassal 
of  the  noble  house  of  .Chiba,  who,  after  the  confisca- 
tipn  of  his  lord’s  estates  in’  1600,  resorted  to  the 

• 384  • 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

potter’s  art  as  a means  of  gaining  a livelihood.  If 
this  be  true,  the  factory  must  take  precedence  of  all 
others,  so  far  as  Yedo  is  concerned,  but  it  is  here 
placed  second,  because  its  productions  failed  to  attract 
any  attention  for  nearly  a century  after  the  reported 
date  of  their  first  appearance.  The  furnace  was  then 
(1680)  in  the  hands  of  one  Shirai  Hanshichi,  and  its 
outcome  was  confined  to  tea-ware  and  fire-holders  of 
unglazed  pottery.  But  in  the  next  generation  (1720) 
faience  after  the  fashion  of  the  Raku-yaki  gained  for 
the  factory  considerable  local  popularity.  Small 
figures,  especially  of  women,  and  the  larger  class  of 
utensils  used  by  the  tea-clubs,  were  the  staple  articles 
of  manufacture.  A business  of  some  importance  was 
also  done  in  fire-boxes  of  coloured  clays,  after  the  style 
carried  to  such  perfection  by  Zengoro  Hozen  of 
Kyoto.  Green,  black,  red,  and  white  clays  were 
employed ; sometimes  mixed  so  as  to  produce  a 
marbled  effect ; sometimes  used  separately.  The 
glaze  was  very  thin  and  glossy  and  the  pate  carefully 
manipulated.  This  manufacture  is  now  carried  on 
with  great  success.  The  fire-boxes  are  deservedly  very 
popular  in  Tokyo,  being  not  only  finely  finished  but 
also  remarkably  cheap.  They  resemble  highly  polished 
marble. 

Tokyo  Raku  Ware 

The  reader  will  probably  have  observed  that  am- 
ateur Japanese  keramists  generally  chose  Raku-yaki 
for  their  first  essays.  This  is  of  course  due  in  great 
part  to  the  fact  that  the  Korean  master’s  faience,  ow- 
ing to  the  peculiarly  simple  methods  of  its  manufacture, 
is  well  adapted  to  domestic  manufacture.  Another 
reason  is  to  be  found  in  the  low  temperature  at  which 

VOL.  VIII. 25  08  f 


JAPAN 

the  ware  is  baked  and  the  inexpensive  nature  of  the 
furnace  employed.  The  Raku  potter’s  oven- — a lit- 
tle earthen  erection,  measuring  less  than  two  feet  in 
any  direction  — resembles  an  article  of  cottage  furniture 
rather  than  a kiln,  and  the  few  simple  appliances  that 
constituted  his  plant  were  within  easy  reach  of  the 
humblest  means.  This  facility  of  manipulation  has 
procured  for  Raku  faience  the  title  of  “ JJchi  yaki” 
or  “ home  made  pottery,”  and  the  names  of  quite  a 
considerable  number  of  amateurs  are  associated  with 
its  domestic  manufacture.  As  shown  above,  the 
Imado  potters  included  it  among  their  productions. 
It  has  also  been  made,  from  time  to  time  during  the 
present  century,  by  various  residents  of  the  Honjo 
district  of  Tokyo.  A curious  and  interesting  manner 
of  employing  this  Raku  faience  was  suggested  by  the 
Chinese  device  of  ornamenting  woodwork  with  inlaid 
plaques  of  porcelain.  Ogawa  Ritsuo,  or  Haritsu,  a 
Kyoto  artist  who  flourished  during  the  first  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  appears  to  have  been  the  origina- 
tor of  this  style  in  Japan.  He  used  it  in  a variety 
of  ways,  as,  for  example,  in  the  ornamentation  of 
screens,  medicine-boxes  [inro),  and  hashira-kake  (long, 
narrow  pictorial  boards  for  hanging  against  the  square 
pillars  in  a Japanese  room).  The  Japanese  expert, 
however,  altogether  eschewed  the  formal  fashions  of 
his  Chinese  models.  His  plan  was  to  produce  mosa- 
ics in  faience  on  a ground  of  plain  or  lacquered  wood. 
The  skill  shown  by  Haritsu  in  work  of  this  nature  is 
really  admirable.  Not  only  is  his  technique  remark- 
able, but  his  artistic  effects  are  often  charming.  As 
a potter  he  deserves  high  rank,  for  certainly  the  man- 
ufacture of  every  variety  of  Raku  faience  — black, 
red,  yellow,  cream-white,  and  green  glazes,  as  well 

386 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

as  ware  painted  or  enamelled  over  the  glaze  — was 
never  carried  to  a point  of  greater  excellence  by  any 
Japanese  expert.  His  greatest  triumphs,  perhaps, 
were  in  modelling  flowers  and  insects.  Doubtless 
the  fashion  introduced  by  Haritsu  found  imitators  in 
later  times,  but  no  distinction  was  gained  in  this  line 
until  the  Tempo  era  (1830-1843),  when  the  work  of 
Miura  Kenya,  of  Kyoto,  began  to  attract  attention. 
Kenya  came  to  Tokyo  (then  Yedo),  about  1840  and 
settled  at  Asakusa,  where  he  continued  the  manufac- 
ture of  faience  mosaics  until  a recent  period.  He  never 
reached  the  standard  of  Hariteu,  but  nevertheless  left 
many  specimens  of  great  beauty  and  excellence.  He 
was  succeeded  by  Kozawa  Benshi,  who,  in  addition  to 
inlaying  with  faience,  manufactures  figures  of  terra 
cotta  elaborately  painted  in  body  colours. 

Tedo  Banko  yaki 

This  is  the  name  given  to  ware  manufactured  by 
Numanami  Gozaemon,  the  originator  of  the  Banko- 
yaki,  during  his  residence  at  the  village  of  Komme,  in 
the  suburbs  of  Toky5  (vide  Banko  yaki).  It  can 
scarcely  be  classed  among  the  keramic  productions  of 
the  capital,  and  of  course  it  is  not  distinguishable  from 
work  produced  by  the  Banko  expert  at  his  native 
village  (Kuwana).  In  the  same  category  of  exotic  man- 
ufactures may  be  placed  ware  made  at  the  private  kiln 
of  the  Prince  of  Mita,  within  the  grounds  of  his  Yedo 
mansion  (at  Toyama),  up  to  the  beginning  of  the 
present  century.  To  this  ware,  as  well  as  to  the 
faience  manufactured  at  the  Prince’s  private  factory 
in  Owari,  the  name  Oniwa-yaki  (honourable  garden 
ware)  was  given,  and  it  was  usually  marked  Go-raku-en 

387 


JAPAN 

(‘‘later  Raku-en'^  The  nature  of  the  ware  has  al- 
ready been  described  in  the  chapter  upon  Owari 
keramic  products. 

Tokyo  Porcelain 

Porcelain  was  first  produced  in  Tokyo  by  Fuku- 
shima  Masabei,  who  erected  a kiln  within  the 
enclosure  of  the  Prince  of  Kameyama’s  mansion  in 
the  Minowa  suburb,  1863.  The  industry  was  aban- 
doned the  following  year,  and  Tokyo  remained  with- 
out a porcelain  factory  until  1875,  when  Inouye 
Ryosai,  a potter  of  Seto  (Owari),  went  into  partner- 
ship with  a pottery-dealer  called  Shimada  Sobei,  and 
set  up  a kiln  at  Hashiba,  in  the  Asakusa  district. 
Materials  were  procured  from  Owari,  and  the  manu- 
facture was  vigorously  pushed.  The  porcelain  is 
identical  with  that  of  Seto  (Owari),  but  the  decoration 
is  after  the  fashion  of  the  T5kyo  school  — to  be 
presently  spoken  of  — that  is  to  say,  elaborate  painting 
over  the  glaze,  with  scarcely  any  use  of  vitrifiable 
enamels. 

Tokyo  Decorators  l^E-Tsuke) 

Although  not  remarkable  as  a centre  of  keramic 
production,  Tokyo  possesses  a school  of  artist-artisans 
second  to  none  in  Japan.  Every  year  large  quantities 
of  porcelain  and  faience  are  sent  from  the  provinces 
to  the  capital  to  receive  surface  decoration,  and  in 
wealth  of  design  as  well  as  excellence  of  execution 
the  results  are  everything  that  can  be  desired.  But 
of  the  pigments  and  enamels  employed  nothing  very 
laudatory  could  be  said  until  very  recent  times.  They 
were  generally  crude,  of  impure  tone,  and  without 
depth  or  brilliancy.  Now,  however,  they  have  lost 

388 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

these  defects  and  entered  a period  of  considerable  ex- 
cellence. As  for  the  nature  of  the  designs,  it  may 
fairly  be  said  that  figure-subjects  constitute  their  chief 
feature.  A majority  of  the  artists  are  content  to  copy 
old  pictures  of  Buddha’s  Sixteen  Disciples,  the  seven 
Gods  of  Happiness,  and  other  similar  assemblages  of 
mythical  or  historical  personages,  not  only  because 
such  work  offers  large  opportunity  for  the  use  of 
striking  colours  and  the  production  of  meretricious 
effects,  dear  to  the  eye  of  the  average  Western  house- 
holder and  globe-trotter,  but  also  because  a compli- 
cated design,  as  compared  with  a simple  one,  has  the 
advantage  of  hiding  the  technical  imperfections  of 
the  ware.  Of  late  there  have  happily  appeared  some 
decorators  who  prefer  to  choose  their  subjects  from 
the  natural  field  in  which  their  great  predecessors  of 
former  times  excelled,  and  there  is  reason  to  hope 
that  this  more  congenial  and  pleasing  style  will  sup- 
plant its  modern  usurper.  The  best  known  factory 
in  Tokyo  for  decorative  purposes  is  the  Hy5chi-en. 
It  was  established  in  the  Fukagawa  suburb  in  1876, 
with  the  immediate  object  of  preparing  specimens  for 
the  first  Tokyo  Exhibition  held  at  that  time.  Its 
founders  obtained  a measure  of  official  aid,  and  were 
able  to  secure  the  services  of  some  good  artists,  among 
whom  may  be  mentioned  Obanawa  and  Shimauchi. 
The  porcelains  of  Owari  and  Arita  naturally  received 
most  attention  at  the  hands  of  the  Hyochi-en  decora- 
tors, but  there  was  scarcely  one  of  the  principal  wares 
of  Japan  upon  which  they  did  not  try  their  skill,  and 
if  a piece  of  monochromatic  Minton  or  Sevres  came 
in  their  way,  they  undertook  to  improve  it  by  the 
addition  of  designs  copied  from  old  masters  or  sug- 
gested by  modern  taste.  To  all  such  pieces  the  cachet 

389 


JAPAN 

of  the  Fukagawa  atelier  was  indiscriminately  applied, 
and  has  probably  proved  a source  of  considerable  con- 
fusion to  collectors.  Many  other  factories  for  deco- 
ration were  established  from  time  to  time  in  Tokyo. 
Of  these  some  still  exist ; others,  ceasing  to  be  profit- 
able, have  been  abandoned.  On  the  whole,  the 
industry  may  now  be  said  to  have  assumed  a domestic 
character.  In  a house,  presenting  no  distinctive 
features  whatsoever,  the  decorator  is  found  with  a 
cupboard  full  of  bowls  and  vases  in  glazed  biscuit 
which  he  adorns,  piece  by  piece,  using  the  simplest 
conceivable  apparatus  and  a meagre  supply  of  pig- 
ments. Sometimes  he  fixes  the  decoration  himself, 
employing  for  that  purpose  a small  kiln  which  stands 
in  his  back-garden ; sometimes  he  entrusts  this  part 
of  the  work  to  a factory  where  greater  facilities  are 
provided.  As  in  the  case  of  everything  Japanese, 
there  is  no  pretence,  no  useless  expenditure  about  the 
process.  This  school  of  Tokyo  decorators,  though 
often  choosing  their  subjects  badly,  have  contributed 
much  to  the  progress  of  the  keramic  art  during  the 
past  ten  years.  Little  by  little,  there  has  been  de- 
veloped a degree  of  skill  which  compares  not  unfa- 
vourably with  the  work  of  the  old  masters.  Table 
services  of  Owari  porcelain — the  ware  itself  excel- 
lently manipulated  and  of  almost  egg-shell  fineness  — 
are  now  decorated  with  floral  scrolls,  landscapes, 
insects,  birds,  figure  subjects,  and  all  sorts  of  designs, 
chaste,  elaborate,  or  quaint;  and  these  services,  repre- 
senting so  much  artistic  labour  and  originality,  are 
sold  for  prices  that  bear  no  ratio  whatsoever  to  the 
skill  required  in  their  manufacture.  There  is  only 
one  reservation  to  be  made  in  speaking  of  this  modern 
decorative  industry  of  Japan  under  its  better  aspects. 

390 


.MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

It  is  a reservation  applying  equally  to  the  work  done 
in  T5kyo,  Kyoto,  Yokohama,  and  Kobe.  The  artists 
use  chiefly  pigments,  seldom  venturing  to  employ 
vitrifiable  enamels.  That  the  results  achieved  with 
these  different  materials  are  not  comparable,  is  a fact 
which  every  connoisseur  must  admit.  The  glossy 
surface  of  porcelain  glaze  is  ill  fitted  for  rendering 
artistic  effects  with  ordinary  colours.  The  proper 
field  for  the  application  of  these  is  the  biscuit,  in 
which  position  the  covering  glaze  serves  at  once  to 
soften  and  to  preserve  the  pigment.  It  can  scarcely 
be  doubted  that  the  true  instincts  of  the  keramist  will 
ultimately  counsel  him  to  confine  his  decoration  over 
the  glaze  to  vitrifiable  enamels,  with  which  the  Chi- 
nese and  Japanese  potters  of  former  times  obtained 
such  brilliant  results.  But  to  employ  enamels  suc- 
cessfully is  an  achievement  demanding  special  training 
and  materials  not  easy  to  procure  or  to  prepare.  The 
Tokyo  decorators  are  not  likely,  therefore,  to  change 
their  present  methods  immediately.  Meanwhile  a 
wholesome  impetus  has  been  given  to  keramic  deco- 
ration by  the  efforts  of  a new  school,  which  owes  its 
origin  to  the  late  Dr.  G.  Wagener,  an  eminent  Ger- 
man expert  formerly  in  the  service  of  the  Japanese 
Government.  Dr.  Wagener  conceived  the  idea  of 
developing  the  art  of  decoration  under  the  glaze,  as 
applied  to  faience.  Faience  thus  decorated  has 
always  been  exceptional  in  Japan.  Rare  specimens 
were  produced  in  Satsuma  and  Kyot5,  the  colour 
employed  being  chiefly  blue,  though  brown  and  black 
were  used  in  very  exceptional  instances.  The  diffi- 
culty of  producing  clear,  rich  tints  was  nearly  prohib- 
itive, and  though  success,  when  achieved,  seemed  to 
justify  the  effort,  this  class  of  ware  never  received 

391 


JAPAN 

much  attention  in  Japan.  By  careful  selection  and 
preparation  of  pate,  glaze,  and  pigments.  Dr.  Wagener 
proved  not  only  that  the  manufacture  is  reasonably 
feasible,  but  also  that  decoration  thus  applied  to  pottery 
possesses  unique  delicacy  and  softness.  Ware  manu- 
factured under  his  direction  at  the  Tokyo  School  of 
Technique  [Shokko  Gakko),  under  the  name  of  Asahi 
Taki  attracted  considerable  attention  at  one  time,  but 
the  glazing  material  being  prepared  in  accordance 
with  European  formulas,  presented  a vitreous  aspect 
offensive  to  Japanese  taste,  and,  indeed,  not  likely  to 
appeal  to  any  connoisseur.  Nevertheless  Dr.  Wage- 
ner’s  innovation  bore  fruit  in  the  ateliers  of  Kyoto 
artists,  as  will  be  seen  when  the  modern  develop- 
ments of  Japanese  keramics  come  to  be  discussed. 

The  decorative  industry  in  Tokyo  owes  much  to 
the  Kosho  Kaisha,  an  institution  started  by  Messrs. 
Matsuo  Gisuke  and  Wakai  Kanesaburo  (a  connoisseur 
of  note),  in  1873.  Owing  to  the  intelligent  patron- 
age of  this  company  and  the  impetus  given  to  the 
keramic  trade  by  its  enterprise,  the  style  of  the  Tokyo 
etsuke  was  largely  improved  and  the  field  of  their  in- 
dustry extended.  It  must  be  acknowledged,  however, 
that  Tokyo  artists  often  devote  their  skill  to  purposes 
of  forgery,  and  that  their  imitations,  especially  of  old 
Satsuma-yaki  {vide  Satsuma  Wares),  are  sometimes 
franked  by  dealers  whose  standing  should  forbid  such 
frauds. 

TAKATA  WARE 

In  Toyokawa-machi  of  the  Takata  suburb,  there  is 
a factory  established  by  Takemoto  Hayata  in  1867. 
This  expert  had  come  from  Seto  some  years  previ- 
ously, with  Inouye  Ryosai,  at  the  invitation  of  Matsu- 

392 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

daira,  lord  of  Settsu,  for  the  purpose  of  opening  a kiln 
in  the  grounds  of  that  nobleman's  mansion,  in  Araki- 
machi,  Koishikawa,  T5kyo.  On  the  abolition  of 
feudalism  (1867),  the  two  potters  moved  to  Takata. 
Eight  years  later,  Inouye  Ryosai,  as  has  been  stated 
above,  constructed  a porcelain  kiln  on  his  own 
account  at  Hashiba.  The  Takata  factory  was  at  first 
employed  in  producing  imitation  Satsuma  faience, 
but  this  occupation  proving  unprofitable,  Takemoto 
turned  his  attention  to  the  manufacture  of  special 
glazes,  which  will  be  spoken  of  in  the  section  relating 
to  modern  developments  of  keramics. 

MUKOJIMA  WARE 
Koren-yaki 

At  present  Tokyo  boasts  a lady  keramist  whose 
works  deservedly  attract  attention.  Hattori  Tsuna, 
or  Koren  as  she  is  commonly  called,  is  the  wife  of  an 
official  of  some  rank,  so  that  her  pursuit  of  the 
potter's  art  is  chiefly  a labour  of  love.  She  does  not 
use  glaze  or  coloured  decoration  of  any  kind,  but 
depends  entirely  on  plastic  skill.  At  first  sight  her 
statuettes  and  other  quaintly  modelled  pieces  might 
easily  be  mistaken  for  wood-carvings,  and  indeed 
there  is  little  doubt  that  they  are  designed  with  this 
intention,  for  the  unglazed  clay  of  which  they  are 
made  is  stained  to  a dark-brown  tint,  and  the  surface 
is  often  pitted  or  grained.  The  ware  itself  does  not 
possess  any  great  merit,  but  that  is  perhaps  ascribable  to 
the  faulty  nature  of  the  materials  furnished  by  Tokyo 
rather  than  to  any  want  of  skill  on  the  part  of  the 
manipulator.  Most  of  Keren's  productions  find  their 
way  to  America,  being  exported  by  a large  trading 

393 


JAPAN 

company  by  which  everything  she  can  turn  out  is 
bespoken.  In  her  own  country,  therefore,  her  name 
is  not  yet  widely  known. 

The  Koishikawa  Factory 

Within  the  past  four  years  there  has  been  established 
at  Koishikawa,  in  the  northwesterly  suburb  of  Tokyo, 
a factory  where  considerable  quantities  of  good  por- 
celain are  produced.  The  proprietor  is  Kato  Toma- 
taro.  He  employs  materials  brought  from  Arita, 
Seto,  and  Amakusa.  The  staple  product  of  the  kiln 
is  blue-and-white  ware,  of  which  the  best  examples 
are  delicate  and  well  finished.  Kato  has  shown  some 
capacity  for  manufacturing  glazes  of  the  beautiful 
red  known  in  China  as  Fen-hung^  but  his  work  of  this 
nature  is  still  tentative  and  uncertain. 

Aizu-yaki  or  Wakamatsu-yaki 

One  of  the  most  important  keramic  centres  in  the 
north  of  Japan  is  at  Hongo,  in  the  province  of  Iwa- 
shiro  (Fukushima  Prefecture).  The  industry  was 
started  by  an  expert  of  Mino,  called  Mizuna  Genzae- 
mon,  who  came  to  Wakamatsu  (the  chief  town  of  the 
province)  in  1845,  and  was  engaged  as  a potter  by 
Matsudaira  Masayuki,  lord  of  Aizu.  His  family 
carried  on  the  industry  for  ten  generations,  producing 
coarse  faience  of  the  Seto  type  for  local  use.  The 
tenth  representative,  Mizuno  Tamon,  visited  Owari, 
in  1865,  and  having  acquired  the  processes  of  porce- 
lain manufacture,  introduced  them  at  Hongo.  At 
first  the  ware  was  somewhat  coarse.  The  composition 
of  two  specimens,  examined  six  years  ago,  was  found 
to  be  as  follows  : — 


394 


< 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

AIZU  PORCELAIN 

First  Specimen  . . 72.98  20.07  0.28  3*54  3*50 

Second  Specimen . . 78.80  17.61  0.23  2.49  0.64 

Neither  of  these  specimens  can  properly  be  called 
true  porcelain.  As  for  the  former,  were  it  not  baked 
in  a porcelain  oven  and  did  it  not  possess  a thoroughly 
fused  porcelain  glaze,  its  grey  fracture  and  lack  of 
transparency  would  relegate  it  to  the  rank  of  fine 
stone-ware.  It  is  manufactured  entirely  from  clay 
found  near  a village  called  Nagami.  The  latter  speci- 
men is  composed  of  equal  parts  of  three  clays  ( Okubo- 
tsuchi,  Shira-shari-tsuchi,  and  Kabuto-tsuchi)y  all  found 
near  the  village  of  Kongo.  It  represents  the  better 
kind  of  Wakamatsu-yaki^  having  a pure  white  fracture, 
but  little  transparency  even  at  the  edges.  The  Aizu 
potters,  in  fact,  experienced  difficulty  in  obtaining  a 
temperature  sufficiently  high  to  produce  transparent 
ware.  Their  raw  material,  pronounced  by  experts  to 
be  an  imperfectly  hardened  porcelain  stone  and  placed 
in  the  same  category  with  the  Arita  mineral,  proved 
somewhat  refractory.  But  of  late  they  have  com- 
pletely overcome  these  difficulties.  They  now  suc- 
ceed in  producing  translucid  porcelain  of  fine  quality 
and  almost  egg-shell  thinness.  The  decoration, 
confined  to  blue  under  the  glaze,  is  brilliant  in  colour, 
and  carefully  executed.  The  industry  gives  occupation 
to  about  a thousand  persons.  The  name  of  an  expert 
Kishi  Denzo,  is  associated  with  the  progress  of  recent 
improvements. 

Soma-yaki 

According  to  tradition,  pottery  was  produced  in 
the  province  of  Iwaki  (Fukushima  Prefecture)  as 

395 


JAPAN 

early  as  the  eleventh  century,  but  nothing  is  known 
of  the  ware  until  1648,  when  Toshiro,  a retainer  of 
Soma,  feudal  chief  of  the  province,  is  said  to  have 
visited  Kyoto  in  his  master’s  train  and  studied  the 
keramic  art  under  Nomura  Ninsei  for  a period  of 
seven  years.  Returning  to  Iwaki  in  1655,  he  estab- 
lished a factory  at  Nakamura,  in  the  Udo  district. 
There  is  no  resemblance  between  the  Soma-yaki  of 
that  time  and  the  faience  of  Ky5t5,  though  some 
similarity  is  suggested  by  the  story  of  T5shiro’s  educa- 
tion. The  Soma-yaki  was  rather  coarse,  grey  stone- 
ware, having  thin  translucent  glaze  with  brown 
speckles.  In  some  specimens  glaze  was  not  used  at 
all.  It  is  said  that  the  artist  Kano  Naonobu  visited 
the  province  of  Iwaki,  and  being  desired  by  the  Soma 
chief  to  furnish  a design  for  keramic  decoration, 
limned  a horse  galloping.  This  event  must  have 
occurred  before  the  visit  of  Toshiro  to  Kyoto,  for 
Naonobu  died  in  1650.  At  all  events,  a galloping 
horse,  which  is  the  signification  of  the  word  So7na^ 
became,  from  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
the  only  decorative  subject  employed  by  the  potters 
of  Nakamura.  It  was  traced  occasionally  in  gold, 
but  generally  in  black ; and  sometimes  it  is  found 
engraved  or  in  relief.  To  this  design  the  ware  owes 
its  name,  Soma-yaki,  By  a strange  anomaly  the  same 
term  is  applied  to  the  earlier  undecorated  pieces  : 
they  are  called  Muji-soma  (plain  Soma).  An  inter- 
esting variety  of  Soma-yaki,  dating  from  the  close  of 
the  last  century,  has  its  glaze  granulated  in  distinct  glob- 
ules after  the  fashion  of  a species  of  Karatsu  pottery  al- 
ready described.  In  almost  every  case  a horse,  whether 
painted,  incised,  or  in  relief,  appears  upon  the  piece. 

Specimens  of  old  Soma-yaki  are  difficult  to  find,  and 

39^ 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

have  few  artistic  merits  to  repay  the  search.  The 
collector  will  generally  meet  with  cups  and  bowls  in 
the  best  examples  of  which  the  potter  has  evidently 
taken  Kwang-yao  and  the  Tuan  ware  of  China  as  his 
model.  He  never,  indeed,  produced,  or  thought,  ap- 
parently, of  producing,  the  clair-de-lune  body  colour 
of  the  Yuan  keramists.  But  their  large,  blood-red 
splashes  he  imitated  with  tolerable  fidelity,  and  the 
effect  of  these  upon  his  peculiar  mottled-grey  glazes 
is  not  unpleasing,  — praise  that  may  be  extended  to  his 
combinations  of  blue  and  brown  also.  Pieces  thus 
decorated  belong  to  the  middle  period  of  manufacture 
(1750  to  1820).  Those  of  earlier  date  must  be 
classed  among  the  essentially  severe  wares  of  Japan, 
— wares  destined  to  suit  the  exaggerated  simplicity 
of  the  Cha-no-Yu  canons.  Some  amateurs  find  con- 
siderable merit  in  the  vigorous  delineation  of  the 
horse  which  constitutes  the  cachet  of  the  Soma 
potters.  It  is  the  conventional  horse  of  the  Kano 
school,  a sufficiently  fiery  animal,  but  stereotyped. 
Its  original  designer  showed  himself  at  least  capable 
of  independent  conception,  since  in  limning  a gallop- 
ing horse  [Sd-ma^,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  represent  it 
as  tethered  to  a stake.  Specimens  of  Soma-yaki  are 
often  distinguished  by  a circular  device  of  nine  balls, 
the  badge  of  the  Soma  family. 

The  province  of  Iwaki  has  several  factories  where 
rude  pottery  and  stone-ware  for  local  use  are  manufac- 
tured. It  is  unnecessary  to  speak  of  these  in  detail. 

Nishi  Raku-yaki 

At  Ikao,  a well-known  watering-place  in  the  prov- 
vince  of  Joshiu  (Kotsuke),  faience  of  the  Rahu  type 

397 


JAPAN 

has  been  manufactured  since  1780  by  the  Kishi  family, 
who,  as  has  been  the  case  with  many  makers  of  Raku 
ware,  carry  on  the  business  not  by  way  of  regular 
profession  but  as  an  occasional  household  industry. 
Materials,  not  being  procurable  in  the  district,  are 
imported  from  Owari,  but  despite  the  heavy  expense 
thus  entailed,  the  little  factory  appears  to  prosper.  It 
supplies  local  wants  to  some  extent,  and  derives  an- 
other and  more  considerable  means  of  support  from 
the  patronage  of  visitors  to  the  hot  springs.  Almost 
every  Japanese  is  something  of  an  artist,  and  ever 
since  pottery  and  porcelain  became  essentials  of  the 
tea-clubs,  it  has  been  a favourite  amusement  with 
dilettanti  to  use  their  own  brushes  for  the  decoration 
of  specimens  manufactured  to  order.  Day  by  day 
during  the  “ season  ’’  three  or  four  gentlemen  may 
be  seen  seated  in  Kishi  Ah5’s  picturesque  cottage 
among  the  woods  and  cascades  of  Ikao,  leisurely  trans- 
ferring their  fancies  to  cups,  bowls,  and  vases  of  Raku 
biscuit,  which  are  presently  glazed,  and  re-fired  in  a 
little  kiln  that  stands  in  an  adjoining  building.  The 
decoration  is  in  black  and  brown  sous  couverte,  the 
ware  is  of  the  ordinary character,  soft  and  brittle 
faience.  The  usual  black  Raku  glaze  is  not,  how- 
ever, employed ; salmon-colour  with  white  clouding 
or  frosting,  yellowish  white  with  green  patches,  and 
light  brown  being  the  staple  glazes. 

TAMBA  WARES 
Tl  achikui-y aki 

In  the  province  of  Tamba,  which  lies  to  the  west 
of  Yamashiro  and  is  included  in  the  urban  district  of 
Kyoto,  pottery  is  said  to  have  been  manufactured  as 

398 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

early  as  the  sixth  century.  Not,  however,  until  the 
time  when  the  Taiko  s influence  imparted  so  much 
activity  to  the  art-industries  of  Japan  did  the  ware 
assume  any  features  worthy  of  note.  Pieces  after  the 
fashion  of  the  rude  faience  of  Korea  then  made  their 
appearance.  The  workshop  — which  was  at  a place 
called  Onohara  — was  brought  into  some  notice  by 
peculiar  faience  having  reddish  pate  and  blisters  on 
its  surface,  supposed  to  resemble  an  imported  ware 
attributed  to  Siam.  In  general,  however,  the  Tamba 
potters  of  those  days  took  the  Seto-yaki  as  their  model. 
Among  their  tea-jars,  cups,  and  water-vessels,  speci- 
mens with  very  hard,  reddish  brown  pate^  and  choco- 
late, black,  or  mahogany-coloured  glazes  occasionally 
showing  yellow  mottling,  are  most  frequently  met 
with.  An  inferior  sage-green  glaze  was  also  pro- 
duced. About  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century 
the  factory  was  moved  to  a place  called  Tachikui, 
and  from  that  time  its  productions  were  known  as 
Tachikui-yaki.  They  have  but  little  interest  for 
Western  collectors,  though  occasionally  the  splashed 
glazes  are  not  without  attractions.  The  first  work- 
man of  Tamba  who  distinguished  himself  by  the 
production  of  good  faience  is  said  to  have  been  a 
man  named  Kichizo. 


Sasayama-yaki 

Early  in  the  present  century,  under  the  auspices  of 
Kutsuki,  feudal  chief  of  the  district,  a factory  estab- 
lished at  Sasayama,  also  in  the  province  of  Tamba, 
began  to  turn  out  pieces  of  greatly  improved  descrip- 
tion. The  pate,  light  grey  in  colour,  was  carefully 
manipulated,  and  the  decoration  — sometimes  applied 

399 


JAPAN 

in  the  form  of  pate-sur-pate  to  an  unglazed  surface, 
and  sometimes  enamelled  in  the  ordinary  method  — 
was  generally  of -a  very  artistic  nature,  the  subjects 
being  copied  direct  from  the  works  of  the  celebrated 
painter  Okyo.  The  best  specimens  of  this  period 
are  stamped  with  the  name  of  Nosaka,  the  only  one  of 
the  Tamba  workmen  who  seems  to  have  marked  his 
productions. 

...  Iga  yaki 

The  province  of  Iga.  adjoins  that  of  Omi,' whence 
the  Kyoto  potters  have  always  procured  so  much  of 
their  materials..  It  is  surrounded  by  mountains, 
among  those  on  its  north  being  the 'Nagano  district, 
where  ■ Shigaraki  clay,  is  found  (vide  Shigaraki-yakiy 
The  province  is  regarded  with  interest  by  Japanese 
virtuosi  on  account  of  the  antiquity  of  its  keramic 
productions.  As  . long,  ago  as-  the  Tempyo-hoji  era 
(759-764),  a factory  .existed  at  Marubashira,  in  the 
Ahai  district-.  Tradition  says  that  the  manufacture 
was  interrupted  from  the  middle  of  the  ninth  to  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  but  it  is  certain 
that  Miki-dokuri  — bottles' for  • sacrificial  wine  — of 
unglazed  pottery  were  produced  at  Marubashira  dur- 
ing the  Fjtiki  era  (90 1-9 2 2), 'for  use  at  the  bi-annual 
festival  of  Daijingu.  There  is  also  preserved  in  the 
collection  of  a well  known  Japanese  dilettante  a fire- 
box of  Iga  pottery  marked  Shotai  ni-nen  Ishiyamadera^ 
that . is  • to  say,  “ the  temple  of  Ishiyama,  second 
year  of  the  Shotai  era  ’’  (899).  Recent  researches 
have  further  shown  that  the  ware  known  as  Ko- 
Iga-yaki  (old  Iga  ware)  was  probably  manufactured 
as  long  ago  as  the  Kemmu  era  (1334-1336);  arid 
during  the  Kyoroku  era  (1528-1531),  two  experts, 

400  . . ‘ 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

Jirodayu  and  Tarodayu,  are  said  to  have  revived 
the  extinct  manufacture.  But  it  must  be  confessed 
that  the  whole  history  of  the  Iga-yaki,  prior  to  the 
early  years  of  the  seventeenth  century,  is  wrapped  in 
some  obscurity.  The  Ko-Iga-yaki,  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  bore  a close  resemblance  to  the  faience  of 
Seto  known  as  Hafugama^  and  indeed  it  may  be  said 
generally  that  from  the  time  when  the  Iga  potters 
began  to  apply  glaze  to  their  ware  — probably  about 
1300  — they  took  the  faience  of  Seto  as  their  model. 
In  1635  Todo  Takatora,  feudal  chief  of  the  province, 
summoned  from  Kyot5  two  potters,  Mogibei  and 
Denzo,  and  set  them  to  manufacture  tea-utensils  at 
Marubashira.  About  the  same  time  the  celebrated 
Chajin  Kobori  Masakazu  interested  himself  in  the 
factory  and  furnished  models  to  the  potters.  Speci- 
mens produced  under  the  direction  of  Todo  Takatora 
were  subsequently  distinguished  as  Todo  Iga-yaki,  and 
those  manufactured  at  Kobori’s  instance  as  Enshiu  Iga- 
yaki,  Both  varieties  are  highly  esteemed  by  the  tea- 
clubs.  They  may  easily  be  mistaken  for  Seto  ware. 
There  is  found  in  the  Iga-yaki  mahogany  glaze,  merg- 
ing into  black  and  buff,  familiar  in  old  Seto  tea-jars 
and  the  same  richness  and  lustre  of  surface  that  the 
latter  possess.  The  pate  of  the  Iga  manufacture  is, 
however,  greyer  and  more  stone-like  than  that  of  the 
Seto-yaki.  The  names  of  two  experts  who  directed 
the  Marubashira  factory  in  the  days  of  Takatora  and 
Masakazu  have  been  preserved : they  are  Okamoto 
Sadahachi  and  Okamoto  Sadagoro.  They  received 
from  Takatora  two  copper  seals  {vide  Marks  and 
Seals)  with  which  they  stamped  their  productions.  In 
addition  to  rich  mahogany  black,  and  amber  glazes, 
they  manufactured  also  greenish  glaze  mottled  with 

VOL.  VIII. 26  J.OI 


JAPAN 

brown,  or  brown  streaked  with  green.  In  modern 
times  the  keramic  products  of  Iga  are  confined  to 
coarse  vessels  for  every-day  use.  They  are,  for  the 
most  part,  hard  faience  or  stone-ware,  having  pdte 
identical  with  that  of  the  Shigaraki-yaki  and  an  im- 
pure yellowish  glaze. 

WARES  OF  BUZEN  (FUKUOKA  PREFECTURE) 
Agano~yaki 

This  ware  derives  its  name  from  the  place  of  its 
manufacture,  Agano,  in  the  Tagawa  district  of  the 
province  of  Buzen.  On  the  return  of  the  expedition 
sent  by  the  T'aiko  to  Korea  (1598),  a potter  named 
Sonkai  was  brought  from  Fusan  by  order  of  Kato 
Kiyomasa.  This  man  and  his  sons  erected  a kiln  at 
Agano  (1602),  and,  as  was  naturally  the  case  with  the 
Korean  workmen  who  came  to  Japan  at  that  time, 
began  to  manufacture  faience  after  the  fashions  of  his 
country.  No  authentic  specimens  of  his  early  work 
have  been  preserved.  His  name  was  subsequently 
changed  to  Juji  Kiz5,  and  he  is  generally  spoken  of 
by  Japanese  connoisseurs  as  Agano  Kizo.  He  re- 
mained at  Agano  until  1631,  when  the  feudal  chief 
of  the  district,  Hosokawa  Tadayoshi,  receiving  the 
province  of  Higo  as  his  fief,  moved  to  Yatsushiro,  and 
was  followed  thither  by  Kizo,  his  eldest  son,  Chobei, 
and  his  third  son,  Toshiro.  The  second  son,  Magozae- 
mon  Sonkiu,  remained  at  Agano  and  carried  on  the 
manufacture.  The  expenses  of  the  factory  were 
entirely  defrayed  by  the  local  government,  Magozae- 
mon  and  his  descendants  receiving  a yearly  pension  in 
lieu  of  wages.  The  articles  produced  were  not  sold, 
being  reserved  solely  for  official  use.  A very  few, 

402 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

dating  from  the  seventeenth  century,  are  now  extant. 
Th^pate,  which  was  fine  and  oily,  resembling  in  these 
respects  pate  of  Chinese  pottery,  was  manufactured 
with  materials  found  at  Ichitsu  and  Natsuyoshi,  in  the 
same  district.  The  glaze  was  thin  and  cleverly  ap- 
plied ; its  colour,  lustrous  brown  with  dark  claret 
speckles  or  patches.  In  1757  Magozaemon  Sonko, 
seventh  in  descent  from  Kiz5,  obtained  official  per- 
mission to  sell  his  wares,  and  the  dimensions  of  the 
industry  increased  considerably.  About  this  time,  or 
shortly  before,  a curious  variety  of  faience  was  pro- 
duced. It  had  coarse,  reddish  gray  pate,  and  light 
claret-coloured  glaze,  granulated  so  as  to  resemble  the 
skin  of  a lime.  It  is  vulgarly  known  as  Tachibana- 
hada-yaki,  because  of  its  likeness  to  the  skin  of  the 
orange  tribe  [tachibana^  In  1804  the  Agano-yaki  as- 
sumed the  character  of  Kaku  ware,  the  methods  of  the 
Kyoto  faience  having  been  acquired  by  Magozaemon 
Sonsho,  the  then  representative  of  the  Kiz5  family,  in 
obedience  to  the  command  of  the  chief  of  the  dis- 
trict. Sonsho’s  success  procured  for  him  the  privilege 
of  riding  on  horseback  and  going  about  with  an  at- 
tendant. In  1834  the  local  government  issued  an 
edict  forbidding  the  employment  of  any  potter  be- 
longing to  another  fief,  and  this  prohibition  was  not 
removed  until  1872.  The  chief  experts  at  present 
are  Juji  Kihachiro  and  Yoshida  Hikoroku ; both 
very  inferior  in  skill  to  their  predecessors  of  the  feudal 
era.  Among  comparatively  modern  varieties  of  Aga- 
no-yaki  there  are  (besides  the  Tachibana-hada-yaki), 
the  Mokume-yaki,  which  has  muddy  yellow  or  claret 
glaze  marked  like  the  grain  of  wood  [mokume^,  and  the 
Shiro-te,  which  has  greyish  white  pate  and  glaze  and 
is  entirely  without  decoration.  Of  late  very  in- 

403 


JAPAN 

ferior  specimens  of  yellow  stone-ware,  after  Chinese 
models,  have  been  produced  at  Agano. 

Ueno-yaki 

The  manufacture  of  this  little-known  faience  was 
commenced  early  in  the  seventeenth  century  at  Ueno, 
in  the  province  of  Buzen.  The  potters  confined 
themselves  to  imitating  an  imported  ware  called  Sun- 
korokuy  which  came  from  Aden.  It  was  somewhat 
coarse  red  stone-ware  or  pottery,  covered  with  semi- 
transparent, bluish  white  glaze,  and  decorated  with 
archaic  designs  in  black.  The  well-known  dilettante, 
Ogori  Sotan,  extended  his  patronage  to  the  workmen 
of  Ueno,  and  in  his  time  their  cups,  tea-jars,  and 
water-vessels  were  in  some  demand,  but  the  ware  has 
little  interest  for  Western  collectors. 

Ota-yaki 

Ota  is  near  Yokohama.  A factory  was  established 
there  in  1879  by  Suzuki  Yasubei,  a merchant  of 
Yokohama.  He  invited  thither  Miyagawa  Kuzan, 
son  of  the  Ky5to  potter  Chobei,  who  worked  at  Gion, 
producing  a faience  known  as  Makuzu-yaki,  The 
idea  of  a factory  near  Yokohama  is  said  to  have  been 
suggested  by  Umeda  Yukihiro,  a vassal  of  the  Prince 
of  Satsuma.  At  all  events,  its  early  productions  were 
imitations  of  the  celebrated  Satsuma-yaki,  Materials 
were  procured  from  both  Satsuma  and  Kyoto,  and  no 
little  pains  were  lavished  on  the  manufacture.  But 
though  a good  deal  of  this  highly  decorated  ware 
was  at  first  disposed  of  as  genuine  Satsuma-yaki^  the 
enterprise  had  to  be  abandoned  in  the  end.  Subse- 

404 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

quently  Miyazawa  struck  out  a line  of  his  own,  in 
which  he  attained  considerable  reputation.  His  con- 
ception was  to  supplement  by  plastic  additions  the 
ordinary  style  of  faience  decoration  in  coloured  pig- 
ments and  enamels.  This  new  variety  of  ware  was 
known  as  Makuzu-yaki.  It  was  rather  bizarre  than 
beautiful.  Almost  every  object  in  nature,  the  nude 
human  figure  alone  excepted,  might  be  found  moulded 
in  high  relief  on  vases,  pots,  and  jars  — sages,  storks, 
sparrows,  bamboos,  reptiles,  fishes,  and  flowers.  Not 
a few  specimens  were  marvels  of  patient  skill,  and  in 
consequence  attracted  a fair  share  of  public  patronage. 
But,  in  truth,  that  can  scarcely  be  counted  art  which 
chooses  a material  so  fragile  for  the  elaboration  of 
details  so  easily  marred  by  accident.  The  chefs- 
d' ceuvre  of  the  Ota  factory  were  monstrosities  never 
tolerated  by  Japanese  connoisseurs  and  soon  rejected 
by  foreign  buyers.  Two  clays  were  used  in  their 
manufacture,  one  obtained  in  the  province  of  Izu, 
the  other  from  the  banks  of  the  Tamagawa,  in  the 
province  of  Musashi  — in  which  Yokohama  is  situ- 
ated. The  former  is  a well-known  clay  — consist- 
ing of  disintegrated  porphyry  — which  is  largely  used 
in  Tokyo  for  the  manufacture  of  fire-proof  bricks. 
The  constituents  of  the  Makuzu  faience  mass  are  as 
follows : — 

, . Iron  Limk,  Magnesia,  . 

Silica.  Alumina.  ’ Water. 

63.42  32.20  0.18  1.66  2.07 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  faience  has  a distinctive 
composition ; it  contains  more  clay-earth  and  less 
alkali  and  iron  oxide  than  any  other  Japanese  faience. 
Its  mass  is  pronounced  by  M.  Korschelt  to  be  the 
whitest  and  best  in  Japan.  But  if  this  be  true  of  the 

405 


JAPAN 

mass,  it  certainly  is  not  true  of  the  ware  itself,  which 
has  a crude,  brittle,  and  chalky  appearance,  exceed- 
ingly ill  suited  to  the  elaborate  plastic  conceits  with 
which  the  surface  is  loaded. 

Porcelain  is  manufactured  at  Ota  as  well  as  faience, 
and,  in  addition  to  a quantity  of  specimens  of  both 
natures  decorated  after  the  fashion  of  the  Tokyo 
school,  Miyagawa  has  turned  out  a good  many  porce- 
lain vases  in  which  surface-tints  of  skilfully  graduated 
intensity  produce  effects  at  once  rich  and  delicate. 
He  and  his  son  now  stand  almost  at  the  head  of  Jap- 
anese keramists,  and  their  works  will  be  spoken  of 
in  the  section  on  modern  developments. 

The  composition  of  the  Ota  porcelain  is  that  of  the 
Kyoto  ware.  It  consists  of  six  parts  of  Amakusa  stone 
with  four  parts  of  Shigaraki  clay,  to  which  is  added 
a small  quantity  of  ashes  obtained  from  Satsuma  and 
Tosa  — the  same  ashes  being  used  for  glazing  pur- 
poses. The  addition  of  ashes  to  the  glazing  mass  is 
a custom  prevailing  in  Ky5t5  and  other  places,  also, 
though  the  practice  appears  to  be  resorted  to  in  the 
case  of  special  manufactures  only. 

WARE  OF  HITACHI 
Mito-yaki 

This  is  a species  of  Raku  faience,  interesting  en- 
tirely for  the  sake  of  its  first  and  only  manufacturer, 
Nariaki,  commonly  called  Rekko,  feudal  chief  of 
Mito  in  the  province  of  Hitachi.  A descendant  of 
the  renowned  lyeyasu,  and  one  of  the  greatest  nobles 
in  Japan,  Rekko  did  not  hesitate  to  manufacture  with 
his  own  hands  pieces  of  pottery  which  he  bestowed 
upon  his  vassals.  Near  his  castle  in  Mito  was  a Cha- 

406 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

zashiki  (tea-house)  called  Kobun-tei,  standing  in  the 
garden  of  the  Koraku-en.  Here  the  faience  was 
potted,  and  hence  it  derived  its  name  Koraku-en-yaki, 
It  was  simply  a copy  of  the  Raku  faience  of  Kyoto, 
being  red  in  colour  and  covered  with  waxy,  diaphan- 
ous glaze.  Another  type  had  black  glaze  with  archaic 
designs  in  white  slip  in  high  relief. 

All  the  wares  hitherto  spoken  of  in  this  volume, 
present  some  feature  of  interest,  whether  from  a his- 
toric or  an  artistic  point  of  view.  They  do  not,  how- 
ever, exhaust  the  list  of  Japanese  keramic  productions. 
There  is  scarcely  a province  in  the  Empire  where 
pottery,  faience,  stone-ware,  or  porcelain  is  not  pro- 
duced. But  wares  other  than  those  here  noticed  are 
without  exception  of  a more  or  less  coarse,  rude  nature, 
and  are  destined  only  for  common  local  consumption. 
They  are  therefore  omitted  from  these  pages. 

For  the  sake  of  convenience,  a table  is  added  show- 
ing the  various  kinds  of  Japanese  porcelain  with 
reference  to  their  constituents  : — 


CONSTITUENTS 

OF 

JAPANESE  PORCELAINS 

CE  OF  Manufacture. 

Felspar. 

Clay  Substance. 

Quartz. 

Owari  . 

42.06 

28.45 

27.31 

Kyoto  . 

33-07 

29.89 

35-56 

Arita 

20.32 

30.84 

46.62 

Tajima  . 

15.90 

39.58 

42.50 

Choshiu 

23.09 

35-70 

39-38 

Harima  . 

21.04 

39-91 

36.61 

lyo  .... 

21.87 

31.80 

44.96 

Tokyo  . 

25-31 

41-31 

3'-°3 

Yokohama  . 

33-04 

32.12 

33-63 

Koshiu  . 

26.99 

47-53 

21.72 

Kaga  . . . 

31-91 

35-29 

31-56 

Aizu 

18. 15 

28.36 

46.38 

The  first  six  wares  of  this  table  have  already  been 
distinguished  as  different  classes  of  Japanese  porcelain. 

407 


JAPAN 

Among  the  remaining  six,  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
ware  of  lyo  closely  resembles  that  of  Arita.  The 
porcelain  of  Tokyo,  on  the  other  hand,  though  man- 
ufactured with  materials  procured  in  Gwari,  shows  a 
composition  very  different  from  that  of  the  Seto  ware. 
This  difference  can  be  due  only  to  a variation  in  the 
method  of  preparing  the  raw  materials.  Mr.  Kor- 
schelt,  by  whom  these  analyses  were  made,  suggests 
that  the  dealers  from  whom  the  materials  are  procured 
in  Owari  mix  quantities  of  the  clay  called  Kaeru-me 
with  the  stone  Ishiko,  in  order  to  evade  the  expense  of 
pulverising  the  latter.  However  this  may  be,  since 
Owari,  and  Owari  alone,  furnishes  the  constituents  of 
the  Toky5  porcelain  mass,  there  is  no  reason  to  re- 
gard the  latter  as  a separate  variety.  The  Yokohama 
porcelain,  again,  both  in  the  manner  of  its  manufac- 
ture and  in  the  quantities  of  its  constituents,  corre- 
sponds almost  exactly  with  the  ware  of  Kyoto. 
Finally,  the  porcelain  of  Koshiu,  although,  as  analysed 
above,  it  certainly  constitutes  a special  class  — corre- 
sponding pretty  closely  with  the  porcelain  of  Limoges 
— has  not  yet  been  examined  with  sufficient  care  to 
justify  a final  opinion,  and  is,  moreover,  manufactured 
in  such  small  quantities  and  for  such  inferior  purposes 
that  it  has  not  secured  admission  to  the  rank  of  Japan’s 
characteristic  wares.  The  Aizu  porcelain  closely  re- 
sembles that  of  Arita,  and  the  porcelain  of  Satsuma 
has  been  omitted  altogether,  being  practically  identical 
with  the  latter. 

The  following  table,  compiled  by  Mr.  Korschelt, 
as  the  result  of  a very  large  number  of  analyses,  shows 
the  composition  of  the  principal  porcelains  and  faiences 
of  Japan  in  their  anhydrous  condition  — i,  e,  after 
baking  — the  differences  in  their  chemical  composition 

408 


MISCELLANEOUS  WARES 

becoming  clearer  when  the  varying  quantities  of  water 
contained  in  the  unstoved  masses  are  eliminated  : — 


COMPOSITION  OF  JAPANESE  PORCELAINS  AND  FAIENCES 

(ANHYDROUS) 


Porcelain. 

Silica. 

Alumina. 

Iron  Oxide. 

Lime, 

Magnesia. 

Potash. 

Soda. 

Owari  . 

70.57 

20.97 

0.75 

0.67 

0.26 

4-34 

1-94 

Kyoto  . 

73. 66 

20.04 

0.67 

0.62 

0. 12 

2.97 

1.84 

Satsuma 

77.10 

17-59 

0-94 

0.28 

0. 10 

3. II 

0. 10 

lyo  .... 

76.38 

18.75 

0.86 

0.  38 

0.37 

3-47 

0.  03 

T5kyo  . 

69.91 

23.  81 

1.07 

1.03 

0.46 

3. II 

0.  82 

Y okohama 

73-59 

21.29 

0.15 

0.  82 

0. 16 

3.18 

0.73 

Choshiu 

74-31 

20.95 

0. 52 

0.86 

0.  26 

0. 61 

2.  30 

Koshiu  . 

66.51 

26.  27 

1. 16 

2.43 

0.40 

0.86 

2.60 

Tajima  . 

74-43 

21.28 

0.  36 

0-93 

0.  52 

1.40 

0.90 

Harima  . 

■ 71-71 

22.29 

0.69 

0. 69 

0-33 

3.56 

— 

Kaga  . . . 

70.39 

23.63 

0.62 

0. 30 

0-53 

3-90 

0.56 

Aizu 

78.90 

16.49 

0.86 

0-35 

0.06 

2.28 

0.  56 

Arita 

Faience. 

77.08 

1 8. 29 

0.68 

0.48 

0.  30 

2.57 

0.  65 

Awata  . 

64.03 

30.56 

0.81 

0.51 

0. 29 

2.02 

1. 10 

Satsuma 

65-99 

31-13 

0.40 

0.44 

0. 29 

1.83 

0.47 

Awaji  . 

67.47 

27.37 

1.05 

0.55 

0.13 

^-55 

0.  56 

Bizen 

62.68 

28.37 

0. 92 

0.86 

0.41 

3.06 

2.  91 

Choshiu 

63.41 

32.88 

1. 91 

0.35 

0.25 

1.59 

0.06 

Yokohama  . 

64.76 

32. 88 

0.18 

0-43 

0. 1 1 

1-15 



Aizu 

63.66 

28. 83 

2.35 

0. 67 

0-59 

3-65 



Banko  (white)  . 

72. 10 

25. 16 

1.63  1 

0.25 

0.03 

0.33 

Banko  (brown) . 

60. 17 

23. 28 

5.08  1 

1.20 

— 

— 

1 This  occurs  as  Fc203. 


Readers  who  have  travelled  through  this  long  and 
often  tedious  story  of  Japanese  porcelain  and  pottery, 
will  probably  have  observed  that  the  products  of  the 
keramic  art  of  Japan  group  themselves  into  two  divi- 
sions, the  one  conventional  and  archaic,  the  other 
original  and  natural.  Throughout  the  whole  of  Jap- 
anese Art  this  line  of  demarcation  is  plainly  visible. 
It  is  probably  due,  in  great  part,  to  the  religious  cult 
which  prescribed  ancestral  worship.  People  who, 
year  after  year,  pray  and  burn  incense  before  the 
mortuary  tablets  of  their  forefathers,  cannot  choose 
but  become  imbued  with  reverence  for  the  works  of 

409 


JAPAN 

the  illustrious  dead.  The  greatest  painters  in  Japan 
were  never  permitted  to  be  wholly  original ; it  was 
essential  that  at  some  time  or  other  they  should  walk 
in  the  footprints  of  their  predecessors.  An  unwritten 
but  practically  recognised  canon  required  that,  in 
order  to  qualify  for  orthodox  recognition,  whatever 
they  might  accomplish  in  their  own  they  should 
show  themselves  familiar  with  and  even  competent  to 
reproduce  the  methods  and  conceptions  of  the  old 
masters.  The  tea-clubs  were  the  great  patrons  and 
preservers  of  this  conservative  orthodoxy.  They 
carried  their  severe  idealism  to  a point  entirely  beyond 
the  range  of  ordinary  intelligence.  Their  aesthetic 
affectation  became  a mystery  unfathomable  even  by 
themselves.  Yet  their  influence  survives  even  now, 
and  has  left  its  mark  upon  every  branch  of  art,  espe- 
cially the  keramic.  The  rude  homely  potteries  of 
Bizen,  of  Karatsu,  of  Shinto,  of  Iga,  and  many  another 
kiln,  when  placed  side  by  side  with  the  exquisite 
porcelains  of  Hirado  and  Nabeshima,  or  the  beautiful 
faiences  of  Satsuma  and  Kyot5,  show  how  often  Japan 
did  violence  to  her  own  natural  genius  in  deference 
to  the  dictates  of  an  artificial  and  perverse  dilettante- 
ism.  If  foreign  influence  threatened  at  first  to  vitiate 
her  taste,  it  will  probably  atone  for  this  crime  by 
finally  discrediting  the  cramping  canons  of  the  C ha- 
no- Tu  cult. 


410 


Chapter  VIII 

MODERN  DEFELOPMENTS  OF 
JAPANESE  KERAMICS 

PEAKING  broadly,  the  distinguished  products 
of  Japanese  keramic  art  in  ipvc-Meiji  days  may 
I be  said  to  have  been  the  porcelains  of  Hizen 
and  Kutani  and  the  faiences  of  Satsuma  and 
Kyoto.  Many  other  wares  have  attracted  attention, 
but  though  not  without  merits  and  even  beauties,  they 
are  comparatively  insignificant.  In  the  term  ‘‘  Hizen 
porcelains  ” are  included  not  merely  the  richly  deco- 
rated Imari  ware  — the  “Old  Japan’’  of  Western 
collectors  — but  also  the  finely  modelled  and  delicately 
coloured  masterpieces  of  Hirado,  and  the  jewelled 
specimens  of  Nabeshima  which  undoubtedly  stand  at 
the  head  of  all  Japanese  porcelains  ornamented  with 
vitrifiable  enamels  over  the  glaze.  Many  examples 
of  these  varieties  deserve  the  enthusiastic  admiration 
they  have  received,  yet  they  unquestionably  belong  to 
a lower  rank  of  keramic  achievements  than  the 
choice  productions  of  Chinese  kilns.  The  potters  of 
the  Middle  Kingdom,  from  the  early  eras  of  the 
Ming  dynasty  down  to  the  latest  years  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  stood  absolutely  without  rivals  — - hand  aqui 
aut  secundi  — as  makers  of  porcelain.  Their  technical 
ability  was  incomparable,  — though  in  grace  of  decora- 
tive conception  they  yielded  the  palm  to  the  Japanese, 

411 


s 


JAPAN 

— and  the  representative  specimens  they  bequeathed 
to  posterity  remained,  until  quite  recently,  far  beyond 
the  imitative  capacity  of  European  or  Asiatic  experts. 
As  for  faience  and  pottery,  however,  the  Chinese 
despised  them  in  all  forms,  with  one  notable  excep- 
tion, the  Tishing-yao,  known  in  the  Occident  as  boccaro. 
Even  the  Tishing-yao,  too,  owed  much  of  its  popu- 
larity to  special  utility.  It  was  essentially  the  ware 
of  the  tea-drinker.  If  in  the  best  specimens  exquisite 
modelling,  wonderful  accuracy  of  finish,  and  pates  of 
interesting  tints  are  found,  such  pieces  are,  none  the 
less,  stamped  prominently  with  the  character  of 
utensils  rather  than  with  that  of  works  of  art.  In 
short,  the  artistic  output  of  Chinese  kilns  in  their 
palmiest  days  was,  not  faience  or  pottery,  but  porce- 
lain, whether  of  soft  or  hard  paste.  Japan,  on  the 
contrary,  owes  her  keramic  distinction  in  the  main  to 
her  faience.  A great  deal  has  been  said  by  enthusi- 
astic writers  about  the  Famille  Chrysanthefno-Pceonienne 
of  Imari,  and  the  Genre  Kaktemon  of  Nabeshima,  but 
these  porcelains,  beautiful  as  they  undoubtedly  are, 
cannot  be  placed  on  the  same  level  with  the  Kwan- 
yao  and  Famille  Rose  of  the  Chinese  experts.  The 
Imari  ware,  even  though  its  thick  biscuit  and  gener- 
ally ungraceful  shapes  be  omitted  from  the  account, 
shows  no  enamels  that  can  rival  the  exquisitely  soft, 
broken  tints  of  the  Famille  Rose ; and  the  Kakiemon 
porcelain,  for  all  its  rich  though  chaste  contrasts, 
lacks  the  delicate  transmitted  tints  of  the  shell-like 
Kwan-yao,  So,  too,  the  blue-and-white  porcelain  of 
Hirado,  though  assisted  by  exceptional  tenderness  of 
sous-pdte  colour,  by  milk-white  glaze,  by  great  beauty 
of  decorative  design  and  often  by  an  admirable  use 
of  the  modelling  or  graving  tool,  represents  a keramic 

412 


MODERN  DEVELOPMENTS 

achievement  palpably  below  the  soft-paste  Kai-pien-yao 
of  Ching-te-cheng.  It  is  a curious  and  interesting 
fact  that  this  last  product  of  Chinese  skill  remained 
unknown  in  Japan  down  to  very  recent  days.  In  the 
eyes  of  a Chinese  connoisseur,  no  blue-and-white 
porcelain  worthy  of  consideration  exists,  or  ever  has 
existed,  except  the  Kai-pien-yaOy  with  its  imponderable 
pate,  its  wax-like  surface,  and  its  rich,  glowing  blue, 
entirely  free  from  superficiality  or  garishness,  and 
broken  into  a thousand  tints  by  the  microscopic  crackle 
of  the  glaze.  The  Japanese,  although  they  obtained 
from  their  neighbour  almost  everything  of  value  she 
had  to  give  them,  did  not  know  this  wonderful  ware, 
and  their  ignorance  is  in  itself  sufficient  to  prove  their 
keramic  inferiority.  There  remains,  too,  a wide 
domain  in  which  the  Chinese  developed  high  skill, 
whereas  the  Japanese  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have 
entered  it  at  all ; namely,  the  domain  of  monochromes 
and  polychromes,  striking  every  note  of  colour  from 
the  richest  to  the  most  delicate  ; the  domain  of  truite 
and  jlambe  glazes,  of  “ transmutation  ware’’  [To-pien- 
yao),  and  of  egg-shell  with  incised  or  translucid  deco- 
ration. In  all  that  region  of  achievement,  the 
Chinese  potters  stood  alone  and  seemingly  unapproach- 
able. The  Japanese,  on  the  contrary,  made  a spe- 
cialty of  faience,  and  in  that  particular  line  they 
reached  a high  standard  of  excellence.  No  faience 
produced  either  in  China  or  any  other  Oriental 
country  can  dispute  the  palm  with  really  representative 
specimens  of  Satsuma  ware.  Not  without  full  reason 
have  Western  connoisseurs  lavished  panegyrics  upon 
that  exquisite  production.  The  faience  of  the  Kyot5 
artists  never  reached  quite  to  the  level  of  the  Satsuma 
in  quality  of  pate  and  glowing  mellowness  of  decora- 

413 


JAPAN 

tion : their  materials  were  slightly  inferior.  But 

their  skill  as  decorators  was  as  great  as  its  range  was 
wide,  and  they  produced  a multitude  of  masterpieces 
on  which  alone  Japan’s  keramic  fame  might  safely  be 
rested. 

Such,  briefly  speaking,  had  been  the  story  of  the 
art  and  the  distinction  between  the  methods  of  its 
practice  in  China  and  Japan  until  the  commencement 
of  a new  era  in  the  latter  country.  When  the  medi- 
atisation  of  the  fiefs,  in  1871,  terminated  the  local 
patronage  hitherto  extended  so  munificently  to  ke- 
ramic and  other  artists,  the  Japanese  gradually  learned 
that  they  must  thenceforth  depend  chiefly  upon  the 
markets  of  Europe  and  America.  They  had  to 
appeal,  in  short,  to  an  entirely  new  gallery,  and  how 
to  secure  its  approval  was  to  them  a perplexing 
problem.  Perhaps  their  wisest  plan  would  have  been 
to  adhere  strictly  to  pure  Japanese  canons  during  that 
period  of  shifting  patronage,  and  they  have  been 
severely  censured  by  some  critics  for  not  exhibiting 
such  conservatism.  But  when  has  it  been  the  habit 
of  sellers  to  impose  their  own  standards  upon  buyers 
rather  than  to  cater  to  the  latter’s  tastes  ? Great 
painters  may,  in  a measure,  create  an  atmosphere  for 
themselves  ; yet  even  the  greatest  painter,  though  he 
may  direct  and  elevate,  must  always  remain  in  touch 
with  the  spirit  of  the  time  in  which  he  lives  and  of 
the  public  to  whom  he  appeals.  The  same  rule 
applies  with  much  greater  inflexibility  to  the  art- 
artisan.  It  was  but  natural  that  the  Japanese  potter, 
when  required  to  win  favour  in  Europe  and  Amer- 
ica, should  endeavour  to  adapt  his  work  to  Western 
taste. 

In  the  early  years  of  the  Meiji  era,  there  was  a 

414 


MODERN  DEVELOPMENTS 

period  of  complete  prostitution.  No  new  skill  was 
developed,  and  what  remained  of  the  old  was  expended 
chiefly  upon  the  manufacture  of  meretricious  objects, 
disfigured  by  excess  of  decoration  and  not  relieved  by 
any  excellence  of  technique.  In  spite  of  their  artistic 
defects,  these  specimens  were  exported  in  considerable 
numbers  by  merchants  in  the  foreign  settlements,  and, 
their  first  cost  being  very  low,  they  found  a not 
unremunerative  market.  But  as  European  and 
American  collectors  became  better  acquainted  with 
the  capacities  of  the  ^vc-Meiji  potters,  the  great  infe- 
riority of  these  new  specimens  was  recognised,  and, 
the  prices  commanded  by  the  old  wares  gradually 
appreciated.  What  then  happened  was  very  natural  : 
imitations  of  the  old  wares  were  produced,  and  having 
been  sufficiently  disfigured  by  staining  and  other 
processes  calculated  to  lend  an  air  of  rust  and  age, 
were  sold  to  ignorant  persons,  who  laboured  under  the 
singular  yet  common  hallucination  that  the  points  to 
be  looked  for  in  specimens  from  early  kilns  are,  not 
technical  excellence,  decorative  tastefulness  and  rich- 
ness of  colour,  but  dinginess,  imperfections,  and  dirt; 
persons  who  imagined,  in  short,  that  defects  which 
they  would  condemn  at  once  in  new  porcelains  ought 
to  be  regarded  as  merits  in  old.  Of  course  a trade 
of  that  kind,  based  on  deception,  could  not  have  per- 
manent success.  One  of  the  imitators  of  ‘‘  old  Satsuma  ” 
was  among  the  first  to  perceive  that  a new  line  must 
be  struck  out.  Yet  the  earliest  results  of  his  awakened 
perception  helped  to  demonstrate  still  further  the 
depraved  spirit  that  had  come  over  Japanese  art.  For 
he  applied  himself  to  manufacture  wares  having  a 
close  affinity  with  the  shocking  monstrosities  used  for 
sepulchral  purposes  in  ancient  Apulia,  where  frag- 

415 


JAPAN 

ments  of  dissected  satyrs,  busts  of  nymphs  or  halves 
of  horses  were  considered  graceful  excrescences  for 
the  adornment  of  an  amphora  or  a pithos.  This 
Makuzu  faience,  produced  by  the  now  justly  cele- 
brated Miyagawa  Shozan  of  Ota  (near  Yokohama), 
survives  in  the  form  of  vases  and  pots  having  birds, 
reptiles,  flowers,  Crustacea,  and  so  forth,  plastered  over 
the  surface ; specimens  that  disgrace  the  period  of 
their  manufacture  and  represent  probably  the  worst 
aberration  of  Japanese  keramic  conception. 

A production  so  degraded  as  the  early  Makuzu 
faience  could  not  possibly  have  long  vogue.  Miya- 
gawa soon  began  to  cast  about  for  a better  inspiration, 
and  found  it  in  the  monochromes  and  polychromes 
of  the  Chinese  Kang-hsi  and  Tung-cheng  kilns.  The 
extraordinary  value  attaching  to  the  incomparable  red 
glazes  of  China,  not  only  in  the  country  of  their  pro- 
venance, but  also  in  the  United  States  of  America, 
where  collectors  showed  a fine  instinct  in  this  matter, 
seems  to  have  suggested  to  Miyagawa  the  idea  of  imi- 
tation. He  took  for  model  the  rich  and  delicate 
liquid-dawn  ” monochrome,  and  succeeded  in  pro- 
ducing, not  indeed  a rival  of  that  grand  ware,  but  at 
any  rate  some  specimens  of  considerable  merit. 
Thenceforth  his  example  was  largely  followed,  and  it 
may  now  be  said  that  the  tendency  of  many  of  the 
best  Japanese  keramists  is  to  copy  Chinese  chefs 
d' oeuvre.  To  find  them  thus  renewing  their  keramic 
reputation  by  reverting  to  Chinese  models,  is  not  only 
another  tribute  to  the  perennial  supremacy  of  Chinese 
porcelains,  but  also  a fresh  illustration  of  the  eclectic 
genius  of  Japanese  art.  All  the  products  of  this  new 
effort  are  porcelains  proper.  It  is  not  intended  to 
suggest  that  beautiful  faience  has  ceased  to  be  a Japa- 

416 


MODERN  DEVELOPMENTS 

nese  specialty.  The  Kyoto  potters  still  tread  success- 
fully in  the  old  grooves.  But  the  question  here  is  of 
a novel  departure  which  distinguishes  the  present  era. 
Seven  kilns  are  devoted,  wholly  or  in  part,  to  the  new 
wares ; namely,  that  of  Miyagawa  Shozan  of  Ota ; 
that  of  Seifu  Yohei  of  Kyot5 ; those  of  Takemoto 
Hayata  and  Kato  Tomotaro  of  Tokyo  ; that  of  Higu- 
chi  Haruzane  of  Hirado ; that  of  Shida  Yasukyo  of 
Kaga  and  that  of  Kato  Masukichi  of  Seto. 

Among  the  seven  keramists  here  enumerated,  Seifu 
of  Kyoto  probably  enjoys  the  highest  reputation.  He 
manufactures  monochromatic  and  jewelled  porcelain 
and  faience,  which  differ  essentially  from  the  tradi- 
tional Kyoto  types,  their  models  being  taken  direct 
from  China.  But  a sharp  distinction  has  to  be  drawn 
between  the  method  of  Seifu  and  that  of  the  other 
six  keramists  mentioned  above  as  following  Chinese 
fashions.  It  is  this,  that  whereas  the  latter  produce 
their  chromatic  effects  by  mixing  the  colouring  mat- 
ter with  the  glaze,  Seifu  paints  the  biscuit  with  a pig- 
ment over  which  he  runs  a translucid  colourless  glaze. 
The  Kyoto  artist’s  process  is  much  easier  than  that  of 
his  rivals,  and  although  his  monochromes  are  often  of 
most  pleasing  delicacy  and  fine  tone,  they  do  not  be- 
long by  any  means  to  the  same  category  of  technical 
excellence  as  the  wares  they  imitate.  From  this  judg- 
ment must  be  excepted,  however,  his  ivory-white  and 
celadon  wares,  as  well  as  his  porcelains  decorated  with 
blue,  or  blue  and  red  sous  couverte^  and  with  vitrifiable 
enamels  over  the  glaze.  In  these  five  varieties  he  is 
emphatically  great.  It  cannot  be  said,  indeed,  that 
his  celadon  shows  the  velvety  richness  of  surface  and 
tenderness  of  colour  that  distinguish  the  old  Kuang- 
yao  and  Lunge huan-yao^  or  that  he  has  ever  essayed  the 

VOL.  VIII. 27  A\n 


JAPAN 

moss-edged  crackle  of  the  beautiful  Ko-yao.  But  his 
celadon  certainly  equals  the  more  modern-Chinese  ex- 
amples from  the  Kang-hsi  and  Yung-cheng  kilns.  As 
for  his  ivory-white,  it  distinctly  surpasses  the  Chinese 
Ming  Chen-yao  in  every  quality  except  an  indescrib- 
able intimacy  of  glaze  and  pate  which  probably  can 
never  be  obtained  by  either  Japanese  or  European 
methods. 

Miyagawa  Shozan,  or  Makuzu  as  he  is  generally 
called,  has  never  followed  Seifu’s  example  in  descend- 
ing from  the  difficult  manipulation  of  coloured  glazes 
to  the  comparatively  simple  process  of  painted  biscuit. 
This  comment  does  not  refer,  it  need  scarcely  be  said, 
to  the  use  of  blue  and  red  sous  couverte.  In  that  class 
of  beautiful  ware  the  application  of  pigment  to  the 
unglazed  pate  is  inevitable,  and  both  Seifu  atid  Miya- 
gawa, working  on  the  same  lines  as  their  Chinese  pre- 
decessors, produce  porcelains  that  almost  rank  with 
choice  Kang-hsi  specimens,  though  they  have  not  yet 
mastered  the  processes  sufficiently  to  employ  them  in 
the  manufacture  of  wares  of  moderate  price.  But  in 
the  matter  of  true  monochromatic  and  polychromatic 
glazes,  to  Shozan  belongs  the  credit  of  having  inaugu- 
rated Chinese  fashions,  and  if  he  has  never  fully  suc- 
ceeded in  achieving  Lang-yao  (^sang-de-bceuf^y  Chi-hung 
(liquid-dawn  red),  Chiang-tou-hung  (bean-blossom  red, 
the  “peach-blow"’  of  American  collectors),  or  above 
all  Pin-kwo-tsing  (apple-green  with  red  bloom),  his 
efforts  to  imitate  them  have  resulted  in  some  very  in- 
teresting pieces. 

Takemoto  and  Kato  of  Tokyo  entered  the  field 
subsequently  to  Shozan,  but  follow  the  same  models 
approximately.  Takemoto,  however,  has  made  a 
specialty  of  black  glazes,  his  aim  being  to  rival  the 

418 


MODERN  DEVELOPMENTS 

Sung  Chien-yao,  with  its  glaze  of  mirror-black  or 
raven’s-wing  green,  and  its  leveret-fur  streaking  or 
russet-moss  dappling,  the  prince  of  all  wares  in  the 
estimation  of  the  Japanese  tea-clubs.  Like  Shozan, 
he  is  still  very  far  from  his  original,  but,  also  like 
Shozan,  he  produces  highly  meritorious  pieces  in  his 
efforts  to  reach  an  ideal  that  will  probably  continue  to 
elude  him  for  ever.  Of  Kato  there  is  not  much  to  be 
said.  He  has  not  succeeded  in  winning  great  distinc- 
tion, but  he  manufactures  some  very  delicate  mono- 
chromes, fully  deserving  to  be  classed  among  prominent 
evidences  of  the  new  departure,  and  he  has  also  been 
able  to  produce  porcelains  decorated  with  blue  under 
the  glaze  that  are  almost  equal  to  fine  specimens  of 
the  best-period  Chinese  ware.  Indeed  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  Japan’s  modern  potters  have  solved  the 
problem  long  supposed  to  be  insolvable,  the  problem 
of  blue  under  the  glaze.  Seifu,  Miyagawa,  Kato 
Tomotaro,  and  others  are  turning  out  admirable  speci- 
mens of  that  class,  though  there  is  no  evidence  that 
they  will  ever  achieve  the  soft-paste  blue-and-white 
of  the  Chinese  masters. 

Higuchi  of  Hirado  is  to  be  classed  with  keramists 
of  the  new  school  on  account  of  one  ware  only, 
namely,  porcelain  having  translucid  decoration,  the 
so-called  “ grains-of-rice  ” of  American  collectors, 
designated  “ fire-fly  style  ” [hotaru-de)  in  Japan.  That, 
however,  is  an  achievement  of  no  small  consequence, 
especially  since  it  had  never  previously  been  essayed 
outside  China.  The  Hirado  expert  has  not  yet 
attained  technical  skill  equal  to  that  of  the  Chinese. 
He  cannot,  like  them,  cover  the  greater  part  of  a 
specimen’s  surface  with  a lace-work  of  transparent 
decoration,  exciting  wonder  that  pate  deprived  so 

4J9 


JAPAN 

greatly  of  continuity  could  have  been  manipulated 
without  accident.  But  his  artistic  instincts  are  higher 
than  those  of  the  Chinese,  and  there  is  reasonable 
hope  that  in  time  he  may  excel  their  best  works.  In 
other  respects  the  Hirado  factories  do  not  produce 
wares  so  beautiful  as  those  manufactured  there  between 
1759  and  1840,  when  the  Hirado-yaki  stood  at  the 
head  of  all  Japanese  porcelain  on  account  of  its 
pure,  close-grained  pate,  its  lustrous  milk-white 
glaze,  and  the  soft  clear  blue  of  its  carefully  executed 
decoration. 

When  the  Owari  potters  entered  the  new  school, 
which  was  not  until  1894,  they  took  jiambe  glazes  for 
their  first  models,  and  their  pieces  presented,  an  air 
of  novelty  that  attracted  attention.  But  the  style  was 
not  calculated  to  win  general  popularity,  and  they 
soon  entered  a much  better  route,  namely,  the  manu- 
facture of  egg-shell  porcelain.  Chinese  potters  of 
the  Tung-lo  era  (1403—1424)  enriched  their  country 
with  ware  to  which  the  name  of  totai-ki  (bodiless  uten- 
sil) was  given  on  account  of  its  wonderfully  attenuated 
pate.  The  finest  specimens  of  this  porcelain  had  in- 
cised decoration,  sparingly  employed  but  adding  much 
to  the  beauty  of  the  piece.  In  subsequent  eras  the 
potters  of  Ching-te-chen  did  not  fail  to  continue  this 
remarkable  manufacture,  but  its  only  Japanese  repre- 
sentative was  a porcelain  distinctly  inferior  in  more 
than  one  respect,  namely,  the  egg-shell  utensils  of 
Hizen  and  Hirado,  some  of  which  had  finely  woven 
basket-cases  to  protect  their  extreme  fragility.  The 
Seto  experts,  however,  are  now  making  bowls,  cups, 
and  vases  that  rank  nearly  as  high  as  the  celebrated 
Tung-lo  totai-ki.  In  purity  of  tone  and  velvet-like 
gloss  of  surface  there  is  distinct  inferiority  on  the 

420 


MODERN  DEVELOPMENTS 

side  of  the  Japanese  ware,  but  in  thinness  of  pate 
it  supports  comparison  with,  and  in  profusion  and 
beauty  of  incised  decoration  it  excels,  its  Chinese 
original. 

Latest  of  all  to  acknowledge  the  impulse  of  the 
new  departure  have  been  the  potters  of  Kaga.  For 
many  years  their  ware  enjoyed  the  credit,  or  discredit, 
of  being  the  most  lavishly  decorated  porcelain  in 
Japan.  It  is  known  to  Western  collectors  as  a prod- 
uct blazing  with  red  and  gold,  a very  degenerate 
offspring  of  the  Chinese  Ming  type  which  Hozen  of 
Kyoto  reproduced  so  beautifully  at  the  beginning  of 
the  nineteenth  century  under  the  name  of  Eiraku-yaki, 
Within  the  past  six  years,  however,  a totally  new  de- 
parture has  been  made  by  Morishita  Hachizaemon,  a 
keramic  expert,  in  conjunction  with  Shida  Yasukyo, 
president  of  the  Kaga  Products  Joint  Stock  Company 
[Kaga  Buss  an  Kabushiki  Kaisha^  and  teacher  in  the 
Kaga  Industrial  School.  The  line  chosen  by  these 
keramists  is  purely  Chinese.  Their  great  aim  seems 
to  be  the  production  of  the  exquisite  Chinese  mono- 
chromes known  as  u-kwo-tien-tsing  (blue  of  the  sky  after 
rain)  and  yueh-peh  [clair-de-lune),  into  the  composi- 
tion of  both  of  which  glazes  gold  enters.  But  they 
also  devote  much  attention  to  porcelains  decorated 
with  blue  or  red  sous  couverte.  Their  work  shows 
much  promise,  but  like  all  fine  specimens  of  the  Sin- 
ico- Japanese  school,  the  prices  are  too  high  to  attract 
wide  custom. 

The  Satsuma  potters  also  have  made  a new  depar- 
ture, but  in  their  case  originality  may  be  claimed, 
since  no  prototype  is  to  be  found  among  Chinese 
wares.  They  now  produce  faience  with  designs 
pierced  a jour  in  a manner  that  is  at  once  very  beau- 

421 


JAPAN 

tiful  and  extraordinarily  delicate.  Satsuma  keramists 
were  never  remarkable  for  such  work  in  former  times. 
It  belonged  almost  solely  to  the  province  of  the  Hirado 
potters,  and  they  used  it  solely  in  a subsidiary  role,  as 
for  the  tops  of  censers  or  for  some  trivial  part  of  an 
alcove  statuette.  But  what  the  Satsuma  artists  have 
now  conceived  is  pierced  decoration  constituting  the 
sole  ornamentation  of  a specimen.  It  appears  at  first 
sight  that  translucid  porcelain  should  be  a better  and 
more  natural  medium  for  work  of  this  kind,  since 
faience  does  not  lend  itself  so  readily  to  the  produc- 
tion of  sharp  edges  and  clearly  chiselled  contours. 
But  no  one  who  has  seen  the  Satsuma  work  can 
hesitate  in  choosing  between  the  results  of  the  pro- 
cess in  the  two  materials,  faience  and  porcelain.  The 
former  shows  softness  and  grace  which  cannot  possibly 
be  obtained  with  the  latter.  Chinese  keramists  under- 
stood this  well.  All  their  exquisite  modelling  in 
relief  was  done  with  soft-paste  porcelain,  and  every- 
body who  has  had  an  opportunity  of  examining  their 
masterpieces  in  that  line  cannot  have  failed  to  appre- 
ciate the  charm  of  such  work.  Chiselling  in  relief 
and  chiselling  "a  jour  are  different  operations,  of  course, 
but  the  decorative  features  of  both  are  similar,  and  the 
quality  of  ware  that  lends  itself  to  an  admirable  result 
in  the  case  of  the  one  is  equally  essential  for  the  other. 
The  new  Satsuma  method  is  not  described  exhaustively 
as  decoration  a jour.  Much  of  it  is  chiselling  in  the 
round,  a wholly  new  departure.  It  is  difficult  to 
speak  too  highly  of  the  delightful  effect  produced. 
Such  a feat  of  technical  skill  is  possible  only  in  a 
country  where  expert  labour  is  satisfied  with  a very 
small  reward.  An  interesting  fact  connected  with 
this  new  departure  is  that  it  was  inaugurated  by  Chin 

422 


MODERN  DEVELOPMENTS 

Jukan,  a descendant  of  one  of  the  Korean  potters  who 
were  brought  from  the  peninsula  by  Hideyoshi’s  general 
in  the  sixteenth  century. 

Ito  Tozan  of  Kyot5  is  a keramist  of  the  highest 
rank,  though  his  new  specialty  belongs  to  a different 
class  of  work  from  that  of  the  seven  experts  men- 
tioned above.  He  manufactures  faience  decorated 
with  a number  of  sous-couverte  colours — blue,  green, 
red,  yellow,  black,  and  purple  — and  the  technical 
features  of  his  ware  are  irreproachable.  Doubtless 
he  derived  inspiration  from  the  Asahi-yaki  of  Tokyo, 
but  his  faience  takes  artistic  rank  incomparably  higher 
than  that  held  by  the  now  little  admired  product  of 
the  capital. 

The  sum  of  the  matter  is  that  the  modern  Japanese 
keramist,  after  many  efforts  to  cater  to  the  taste  of 
the  Occident,  evidently  concludes  that  his  best  hope 
consists  in  devoting  all  his  technical  and  artistic  re- 
sources to  reproducing  the  celebrated  wares  of  China. 
In  explanation  of  the  fact  that  he  did  not  essay  that 
route  in  former  times,  it  may  be  noted,  first,  that  he 
had  only  a limited  acquaintance  with  the  wares  in 
question ; secondly,  that  Japanese  connoisseurs  never 
attached  any  value  to  their  countrymen’s  imitations 
of  Chinese  porcelains  so  long  as  the  originals  were 
obtainable  ; thirdly,  that,  the  keramic  art  of  China  not 
having  fallen  into  its  present  state  of  decadence,  the 
idea  of  competing  with  it  did  not  occur  to  outsiders  ; 
and  fourthly,  that  Europe  and  America  had  not  de- 
veloped their  present  keen  appreciation  of  Chinese 
masterpieces.  Yet  it  is  remarkable  that  China,  at  the 
close  of  the  nineteenth  century,  should  have  again 
furnished  models  to  Japanese  eclecticism.  There  are 
reasons  which  render  it  doubtful  whether  the  Jap- 

423 


JAPAN 

anese  potter,  without  a radical  change  of  technical 
methods,  will  ^ ever  reach  the  level  upon  which  the 
Chinese  masters  stood,  but  it  is  very  probable  that  he 
may  produce  en  route  many  beautiful  and  excellent 
varieties  of  porcelain. 


424 


Appendix 


425 


Appendix 


Note  i. — Izumo  is  the  place  where  men  emigrating  from  the 
Asiatic  continent  to  Japan  via  Korea  would  naturally  land,  supposing 
them  to  follow  the  chain  of  islets  which  form  partial  stepping- 
stones  from  Korea  to  Japan.  The  story  of  keramics  thus  fur- 
nishes incidental  evidence  of  the  theory  that  Izumo  was  the  first 
point  reached  by  the  Mongoloid  immigrants,  who  subsequently 
pushed  on  to  Yamato. 

Note  2.  — Owari,  Bizen,  Izumo,  Mikawa,  Settsu,  Nagato,  Omi, 
Mino,  Harima,  Sanuki,  Chikuzen,  Tampa,  Awa,  and  Chikugo. 

Note  3.  — One  of  the  chief  imperfections  of  modern  Arita  por- 
celain is  due  to  the  faulty  manipulation  of  its  glaze. 

Note  4.  — It  will  be  well,  perhaps,  to  warn  collectors  against  elabo- 
rately modelled  and  highly  decorated  specimens  of  Imari  porcelain 
which  are  placed  upon  the  market  by  unprincipled  dealers  as  ex- 
amples of  Kakiemon’s  work.  There  were  several  generations  of 
Kakiemons,  and  the  mere  fact  of  ascribing  a specimen  to  Kakiemon 
is  sufficient  to  proclaim  the  ignorance  or  dishonesty  of  the  description. 
As  for  the  figures  of  richly  robed  females  that  have  received  this  title 
in  recent  works  on  Japanese  art,  they  are  manifest  forgeries. 

Note  5.  — The  leading  features  of  this  story  are  repeated  in  the 
case  of  two  or  three  potters. 


INDEX 


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INDEX 


Abe  Omi,  amateur  potter,  revives 
keramic  industry  in  Kaga,  252. 

Agano  family,  potters,  322-324. 

Aichi  Prefecture.  See  Owari. 

Ai-no-suke,  Takayama,  potter,  218. 

Aitaro,  Takayama,  potter,  218. 

Aizu,  faience,  394;  porcelain,  394, 

395- 

Akahada  ware,  old,  357  ; second 
period,  357. 

Akaji-kinga  ware,  220. 

Akamatsu  Eiji,  potter,  379. 

Akazu,  Owari,  Kato  Kagemasa’s  kiln, 
278  ; Shuntai  ware,  279. 

Aki  Zenkichi,  potter,  229. 

Alcock,  Sir  Rutherford,  collector  of 
keramics,  132. 

Ama  ware,  32. 

Amakusa  porcelain  stone,  discovery, 
101. 

Ama-no-Hibako,  alleged  potter,  7. 

Ameya.  See  Masakichi. 

Analysis.  See  Composition. 

Ancestral  worship,  influence  on  art, 
409. 

Anderson,  W.,  on  the  Shijo  school 
of  pictorial  art,  1 94. 

Annam  ware,  373. 

Antique,  influence  on  keramic  art,  409. 

Ao-Bizen  ware,  329  ; no  longer  pro- 
duced, 330. 

Aoki  Eigoro,  potter,  259. 

Aoyama  Koemon,  potter,  discloses 
method  of  enamelling  ware,  181. 

Arita,  Hizen,  Shonzui’s  home,  22, 
28,  zj.2  ; early  faience,  25,  54; 
Korean  potters,  5 5 ; discovery  of 
porcelain  stone,  5 5 ; secluded  posi- 
tion, 57  ; early  porcelain,  57,  59  ; 
development  and  character  of 


Arita,  Hizen  {^continued')  : 

enamelled  porcelain,  61,  63  ; 

influence  of  Dutch  trade,  76-79  ; 
Old  Japan  ware,  79-92  ; pros- 
perity, 87  ; identification  of  the 
ware,  89  ; various  decorations, 
90-94;  decline,  92,  129;  egg- 
shell porcelain,  no;  modern  con- 
ditions, 1 1 3,  129;  Old  Japan  for 
export  not  characteristic,  1 20-122  ; 
skill  in  decoration,  122;  and 
Okawachi  ware,  123,  126;  scar- 
city of  blue-and-white  ware,  127  ; 
crackle,  128. 

Asagiri  ware,  374. 

Asahi  ware,  35^. 

Asami  Gorosuke,  potter,  229. 

Asataro,  Funaki,  potter,  338. 

Asukai  Kyoshi,  potter,  254. 

Audsley,  G.  A.,  error  on  Japanese  por- 
celain, 18,  39  ; on  Japanese  porce- 
lain in  European  collections,  121. 

Awaji  ware,  origin,  350  ; glazes, 
351-353  ; decoration,  352,  353  ; 
modern,  352;  varieties,  352; 
composition,  353. 

Awata,  Kyoto,  potteries,  one  of 
Ninsei’s  workshops,  182;  origin 
of  the  factory,  187—189  ; charac- 
ter of  its  faience,  189  ; Kenzan’s 
ware,  190— 192;  Dohachi  family, 
193-195;  Kagiya  family,  195; 
usual  shapes,  196;  Hbzan  ware, 
197  ; pate -sur- pate  decoration, 

198,  200,  201  ; Taizan  family, 

199,  200;  Tanzan  family,  201  ; 
Bizan figure-decorated  faience,  202  ; 
composition  of  the  faknce,  203  ; 
compared  with  Iwakura  wares, 
204-206. 


431 


INDEX 


Awaya  Genemon,  potter,  247  ; re- 
vives the  Ao-Kutani  ware,  248  ; 
his  Ohi  faience,  259  ; technical 
ability,  259. 

Baihin,  Seifu,  potter,  226. 

Baikei,  Seifu,  potter,  227. 

Ban  family,  potters,  345. 

Banko  ware,  original,  358-360; 
mark,  360;  revival,  361  ; use  of 
moulds,  362  ; character  of  re- 
vived, or  Yusetsu  ware,  362,  364  ; 
popularity  and  imitation,  363; 
varieties  and  essential  feature,  364 ; 
Yedo,  387. 

Banshu.  See  Harima. 

Barin  ware,  367. 

Bishiu.  See  Owari. 

Bizan,  four  generations  of  Awata 
potters,  202. 

Bizen  province  ware,  early,  328, 
331;  varieties  and  characteristics, 
329—332;  modelled,  329;  marks, 
33 333;  potters,  332;  decline, 
333  ; identification,  335. 

Blue  under  the  glaze  (^sous  couverte') 
decoration,  in  Shonzui’s  use,  21- 
25  ; use  by  his  successors,  25,  54  ; 
on  Arita  porcelain,  57,  73,  79, 
123,  127;  application,  68-70; 
subordination  in  Nabeshima  ware, 
96;  on  Hirado  ware,  103,  iio, 
I13,  128;  on  Satsuma  faience, 
152;  on  Kyoto  faience,  179, 
197  ; Rokubei’s  landscapes,  212  ; 
on  Kutani  ware,  241  ; on  Owari 
porcelain,  292;  on  Mino  egg- 
shell porcelain,  303  ; modern 
success,  419.  See  also  Decoration. 

Boku  Heii,  Korean  potter  in  Satsuma, 
135,  136;  finds  materials  for 

Satsuma  ware,  1 40  ; descendants, 
141,  152. 

Bokuhaku,  potter,  358. 

Bowes,  J.  L.,  error  on  Japanese  por- 
celain, 18,39;  on  Japanese  porce- 
lain in  European  collections,  121. 


Brocade  pattern,  in  Old  Japan  ware, 
81. 

Bunzo,  various  potters,  descendants 
ofYasuchika,  188,  197. 

Butsuyu,  name  for  Zengoro,  223. 

Buzen  province,  Agano  ware,  402— 
404  ; Ueno  ware,  404. 

Carles,  W.  R.,  on  Korean  keramics, 
48. 

Celadon y ancient  reference  to,  10  ; 
Chinese,  19  ; Korean,  47-49  ; 
Okawachi,  ^8  ; attempted  in 
Kyoto,  210  ; Himeji,  3^72  ; 

Meppb,  378;  Sanda,  380; 

Seifu’ s,  417.  See  also  Porcelain. 

Characteristics.  See  Identification. 

Chikaharu,  Higuchi,  potter,  117. 

Chikuzen.  See  Sohichi,  Takatori. 

Chin  family,  potters,  141,  159,  422. 

China,  ancient  intercourse  with  Japan, 
II  ; keramic  primacy,  13,  19-21, 
41 1— 413;  art  influence  on  japan, 
I 8 ; influence  on  Japanese  keram- 
ics, 62,  416,  423  ; enamelled  por- 
celains, 62  ; porcelain  process,  72. 

Chobei,  Yama-no-uchi,  potter,  108. 

Chojiro  of  Kaga,  potter,  246. 

Chbjiro,  Tanaka,  potter,  32,  36. 

Chokku-en.  See  Yohei  (Yama-no- 
uchi)  . 

Choniu,  Tanaka,  potter,  33,  37. 

Chosa,  Satsuma,  ware,  origin,  136; 
Yoshihiro’s  patronage,  136;  char- 
acter of  early  ware,  136;  faience, 
136;  varieties,  137,  169;  change 
in  location,  138;  identification,  1 5 1 . 

Chosen-garatsu  ware,  3 1 o. 

Chbshiu.  See  Nagato. 

Chosuke,  potter,  247. 

Chowaken,  potter,  227. 

Choyu.  See  Chojiro  (Tanaka). 

Chozaemon,  Haji  or  Ohi,  potter  an- 
cestry, 255;  character  of  his  Ohi 
ware,  255,  257;  descendants, 

256,  257. 

Chozo,  potter,  232. 


432 


INDEX 


Chu  Kobutsu  ware,  271. 

Chubei,  Agano,  potters  of  several 
generations,  323. 

Chuzaemon,  Fukuda,  potter,  109. 

Chuzaemon,  Higuchi,  potter,  1 1 8. 

Chuzu,  Agano,  potter,  323. 

Civilisation,  introduction,  2. 

Cloisonne.  See  Enamel. 

Cochin  China  ware,  214. 

Colours  (pigments  and  enamels) , Mo- 
hammedan blue  of  Chinese  porce- 
lain, 23  ; in  Hizen  porcelain,  68— 
70,  74,  82,  87,  96,  103;  in 
Satsuma  faience,  150,  163;  sub- 
stitution of  pigments  for  enamels, 
166,  167,  296,  391  ; in  Awata 
faience,  189  ; in  Kutani  ware, 
238  ; in  Owari  porcelain,  293. 
See  also  Decoration,  Glaze. 

Comb  pattern,  98. 

Composition,  porcelain  : Hizen  stone, 
58,  65  ; Hizen,  72,  73  ; Satsuma, 
156;  Kyot5,  234;  various,  234, 
407-409;  Kaga,  241-244; 
Owari,  287,  288,  291  ; Nagato, 
346;  Awaji,  353;  Aizu,  395; 
Ota,  406. 

Faience:  Satsuma,  153,  156, 
157  ; Kyoto,  203,  232  ; 

Kaga,  242-244 ; Shigaraki 
clay,  370  ; Makuzu,  405  ; 
various,  409. 

Chinese  cobalt  blue,  69. 

Crackle,  in  Arita  and  Okawachi  porce- 
lain, 128  ; in  Satsuma  faience, 
133,  146,  149;  in  Ninsei’s 

faience,  183. 

Decoration,  keramic,  of  dolmen  pot- 
tery, 3,  4;  Shonzui’s  style,  23; 
Korean,  47-50  ; Hawthorn  pat- 
tern, 78  ; wealth  of  designs  of  Old 
Japan,  79,  80  ; figure  subjects,  81, 
104,  202  ; of  Old  Japan  not  char- 
acteristic, 83,  120— 122,  132; 

devices  in  Arita  porcelain,  90 ; 
lacquer,  91-94,  198,  281,  326; 

VOL.  VIII.  — 28 


Decoration  (^continued')', 

paste,  94 ; of  Okawachi  porcelain, 
96-98  ; comb  pattern,  98  ; of 
Hirado  or  Mikawachi  porcelain, 
103—106  ; on  Hizen  egg-shell  por- 
celain, 1 1 o ; character  of  Arita 
porcelain,  122;  of  old  and  new 
Satsuma  faience,  134,  143,  146, 
149,  167  ; of  early  Kyoto  ware, 
179;  Ninsei’s,  184,  186;  Ken- 
zan’s,  190;  influence  of  the  Shijo 
school  of  pictorial  art,  194,  21 1 ; 
style  of  the  Dohachi  family,  194; 
style  of  the  Kagiya  family,  1 96  ; 
pate-sur-pate,  198,  200,  201  ; 

Rokubei’s,  21 1 ; Zengoro’s,  221, 
224;  of  Rengetsu  ware,  231  ; 
of  Kutani  ware,  238—241  ; Hachi- 
roemon’s  Akaji-kinga,  249,  251  ; 
of  the  so-called  Ohi  ware,  258; 
of  Oribe  ware,  275;  of  Owari 
porcelain,  292,  295-297  ; of 

Mino  porcelain,  303  ; of  Yatsu- 
shiro  ware,  322  ; distemper  paint- 
ing of  Fukakusa  ware,  327  ; of  Odo 
ware,  348,  349;  of  Awaji  ware, 
354>  355  ; ofKoto  porcelain,  371  ; 
modern  surface,  388-392;  of 
Soma  ware,  396;  ‘‘ grains-of-rice,” 
419  ; Satsuma  a jouvy  421  ; modern 
under  the  glaze,  423.  See  also 
Blue  under  the  glaze.  Colours,  En- 
amel, Glaze,  Modelling. 

Delft  faience,  imitation  of  Hizen  por- 
celain, 85  ; in  Japan,  86  ; Japanese 
imitation,  197,  360. 

Denzo,  potter,  401. 

Diraku  Zengoro,  potter,  188. 

Distemper  painting  on  Fukakusa  ware, 

Dohachi,  Takahashi,  potters  of  four 
generations,  193  ; decorative  style, 
194- 

Dolmen  pottery,  2 ; decoration,  3-5  ; 
similarity  to  ancient  Cyprus  ware,  4. 

Domi,  amateur  potter,  178. 

Doniu,  Tanaka,  potter,  33,  36. 


433 


INDEX 


Doraku,  Tanaka,  potter,  36. 

Dosen,  Irie,  potter,  219. 

Dosuke,  Ban,  potter,  346. 

Ebisei.  See  Seibei  Yahyo. 

Effigies  on  the  dolmens,  5. 

Ehime  Prefecture.  See  lyo,  Sanuki. 

Eikichi,  Honda,  potter,  246. 

Eiraku,  mark  and  name  used  by  Zen- 
goro,  220,  221;  family  name  of 
his  descendants,  224. 

Eisen,  amateur  potter,  manufactures 
Kyoto  porcelain,  210. 

Eisuke,  Nagahara,  potter,  339. 

Enamel  keramic  decoration,  first  use 
on  Japanese  porcelain,  57  ; Chinese, 
62  ; development  at  Arita,  61,  63  ; 
process  and  materials  at  Arita,  74 ; 
of  Old  Japan,  79,  80  ; varieties  in 
Arita  and  Okawachi  porcelain, 
1 26  ; modern  substitution  of  pig- 
ments, 129,  166,  167,  296,  391  ; 
use  on  Satsuma  faience,  142,  145, 
1 46  ; beginning  of  faience  decora- 
tion, 1 80;  Shubei’s,  216;  on 
Kutani  ware,  238-241  ; on  so- 
called  Ohi  ware,  258  ; on  Owari 
porcelain,  295  ; cloisonne y 297— 
299;  on  Koto  porcelain,  371. 
S>ee  also  Decoration. 

Enshiu.  See  Totomi. 

Enshiu-shigaraki  ware,  369. 

Ezaiemon,  Fukagawa,  potter,  1 1 2 ; 
and  the  Koran-sha,  113. 

Faience,  Korean,  46,  49-53  ; pro- 
cess, 160-164  ; mosaics,  386, 
387  ; modern  decoration  under  the 
glaze,  391  ; composition  of  various 
kinds,  409;  Japanese  primacy,  41  3. 

Chikuzen  : Takatori,  3 14-3  1 8 ; 
Sohichi,  320. 

Higo  : minor  wares,  322;  Yatsu- 
shiro,  322-325. 

Hizen  : early  Arita,  54;  early 
Mikawachi,  100  ; Hikiba, 

108. 


Faience  (^continue : 

Kaga:  Suizaka,  236;  composi- - 
tion,  242-244 ; Wakasugi, 
246,  251  ; revived  Kutani, 
248-251  ; Hachiroe,  249, 
251  ; Ohi,  255-258;  so- 
called  Ohi,  258. 

Koratsu:  earliest,  308;  imitation 
of  Seto,  309 ; development 
under  Korean  influences,  3 1 o, 

3 1 1 ; presentation  ware,  3 1 1 . 

Kyoto:  RakUy  32-38,  386; 

early,  179,  187  ; art  and  in- 
fluence of  Ninsei,  1 80-1 86  ; 
beginning  of  enamelled  deco- 
ration, 181  ; identification, 
184,  189,  204;  coloured 

ware,  1 84,  212;  Awata 

potters  and  wares,  187-204  ; 
modelled,  196;  imitation  of 
Delft,  197;  phe-sur-pate  AtQ- 
oration,  198—201  ; lacquer 
decoration,  198;  composi- 
tion, 203,  232  ; comparison 
of  Awata  and  Iwakura  wares, 
204—206  ; and  Satsuma  fai- 
ence, 206,  207 ; Mizoro, 

208  ; Kyomizu  ware  and 
potters,  209—213  ; Mokubei’s 
imitations,  214  ; Zengoro’s 
ware,  220,  223,  224;  Kan- 
zan’s  ware,  227 ; physical 
character,  233. 

Owari  and  Mino : Seto,  of 

Toshiro  and  his  descendants, 
265-272  ; later  Seto,  272— 
274,  278;  Oribe,  275; 

Shino,  276  ; Gempin,  276  ; 
Mifukai,  278  ; Shuntai,  279  ; 
Toyosuke,  281  ; counterfeit 
Satsuma,  299  ; Setosuke,  300 ; 
early  Mino,  301 ; polychrome 
glaze,  302. 

Satsuma:  Occidental  reputation, 
133;  character  of  old  and 
new,  I33-i35»  146-152, 

166— 168  ; Chosa,  and  other 


434 


INDEX 


Faience  {continued)  : 

coloured,  136-139,  152, 

168-170;  origin  of  “ Sat- 
suma  ware,’’  140 ; produc- 
tion of  enamelled,  142—146, 
152;  identification,  151, 
1 66-1 68 ; hybrid,  151,  166; 
SamCy  153;  composition, 
I53>  156,  157;  Genriu, 

157;  modern  conditions  and 
methods,  158-166;  imita- 
tion, 168,  299;  scarcity  of 
genuine  ''  old  Satsuma,” 
168;  inferior,  171  ; com- 
pared with  Kyoto  faience, 
206,  207  ; modern  a jour 
decoration,  421. 

Yedo:  first,  384;  Imado,  385; 
Raku  mosaics,  3 86  ; modelled, 
387;  Yedo  Bankoy  387;  Yedo 
Onizuay  387;  Keren,  393. 

Miscellaneous  : early  Arita  blue- 
and-white,  25  ; Fukakusa, 
326;  Shikase-yama,  327; 
Bizen,  328-333  ; Shidoro, 
333-335  ; Izumo,  335-338; 
Sanuki,  341-343  ; Hagi, 
344;  modern  Nagato,  347; 
Suo,  347  ; Odo,  348-350  ; 
Awaji,  351-354;  Minato, 
354;  Asahi,  355  ; Akahada, 
357  ; original  Bankoy  358- 
360  ; Yusetsu  Bankoy  360— 
365  ; Zeze,  366-368  ; Shi- 
garaki,  369;  Maiko,  373; 
Akashi,  373,  374;  Oniwa  or 
Kairaku-eUy  375  ; Kobe, 
379  ; Kosobe,  381  ; Sakurai, 
382;  KJkko,  383  ; Takahara, 
383;  Naniwa,  383;  Aizu, 
394  ; Soma,  396 ; Kishi 
Rakuy  397  ; Tachikui,  399; 
Sasayama,  399;  Iga,  401  ; 
Agano,  402-404 ; Ueno, 
404;  Makuzu,  405,  416; 
Mito,  406.  See  also  Keram- 
ics.  Porcelain. 


Fine  arts,  influence  of  the  tea  cere- 
monial, 17  ; influence  of  tradition 
and  the  antique,  53,  410 ; influ- 
ence of  Tokugawa  epoch,  88. 
See  also  Keramics. 

Fuji  family.  See  Hayashi. 

Fujikata  Yasojo,  potter,  254. 

Fujina  ware,  336-339. 

Fujiwara  Masakage,  Kato  Shirozae- 
mon’s  real  name,  263. 

Fukagawa  family,  potters,  112. 
Fukakusa  ware,  original  unglazed, 

326  ; Koemon’s  improvements, 

327  ; glazed  ware,  327. 

Fukami  family,  potters,  113,  114. 
Fuka-umi  Obasen,  Korean  potter  in 

Hizen,  57. 

Fukuda  family,  potters,  108,  109. 
Fukuoka  Prefecture.  See  Buzen. 
Fukushima  family,  potters,  115. 
Fukushima  Prefecture.  See  Aizu, 
Iwaki. 

Fumai,  chief  of  Izumo,  patron  of 
keramics,  337. 

Funaki  family,  potters,  336,  338. 
Furoken  Kamefu,  potter,  227. 
Furuse,  potter,  346. 

Furuta  Oribe,  master  of  the  tea 
ceremonial,  originates  Oribe  ware, 
275.^ 

Fushimi,  Yamashiro,  Fukakusa  ware, 
326. 

Fusuki,  Funaki,  potter,  338. 

Gaikyo.  See  Takenouchi  Kinshu. 
Gembei,  Takayama,  potter,  218. 
Gempin,  fugitive  Chinese  noble,  his 
ware,  276. 

Genjiro.  See  Aitaro. 

Genjuro,  amateur  potter,  178. 
Gen-no-jo,  Fukuda,  potter,  108. 
Genriu.  See  Ono. 

Gensuke,  Kawara,  potter,  144,  158. 
Gentaro,  Agano,  potter,  324. 

Gifu  Prefecture.  See  Mino. 

Gihei,  potter,  247. 

Giokozan.  6'<f<?Jukan. 


435 


INDEX 


Glaze,  first  use,  8,  lo,  176,  308; 
Chinese,  19-21,  418  ; of  Raku 
ware,  34  ; of  Hizen  porcelain,  70  ; 
of  coloured  Satsuma  faience,  137, 
169;  of  Same  ware,  153;  of 
Kydmizu  ware,  212;  Zengoro’s 
use,  2 20;  of  Kutani  ware,  237, 
244;  of  revived  Kutani  ware,  251 ; 
of  early  Seto  ware,  265,  271  ; of 
later  Seto  ware,  273  ; of  Oribe 
ware,  275  ; polychrome  or  fiambe, 
of  Owari  and  Mino,  279,  302  ; 
of  Takatori  ware,  315  ; of  Raku- 
zan  ware,  336  ; Kaju  Mimpei^s 
use,  351  ; of  Oniwa  ware,  375  ; 
Miyagawa’s  use,  418. 

Gobosatsu.  See  Mizoro. 

Gojo  factory.  See  Kyomizu  ware. 

Gokei,  Seifu,  potter,  226. 

Gombei  of  Karatsu,  potter,  3 1 2. 

Gombei  Shigiyoshi,  potter,  336. 

Gonse,  Louis,  error  as  to  Chinese  in- 
fluence on  Japanese  art,  18. 

Gorodayu  Goshonzui,  potter,  Chinese 
instruction,  21  ; kiln  at  Arita,  22, 
28,  42  ; his  porcelain  ware,  22- 
24,  41  ; imitations  of  his  ware, 
24 ; lack  of  contemporary  influ- 
ence, 26-29. 

Goroemon  Kagetoyo,  potter,  301. 

Goroemon,  Mori,  potter,  333. 

Gosuke,  potter,  304. 

Goto  Saijiro,  Kaga  potter,  learns 
secrets  of  Arita  porcelain,  237  ; 
manufactures  porcelain  at  Kutani, 

237. 

Gowland,  W.,  on  dolmen  pottery,  2. 

Gozaemon.  See  Numanami. 

Grains-of-rice  decoration,  419. 

Gusai,  Rokubei,  potter,  21 1. 

Gyogi,  priest,  ancestry,  8 ; interest 
in  people’s  welfare,  9 ; and  the 
potter’s  wheel,  9 ; fame  as  a 
keramist,  9. 

Gyogi  Bosatsu,  traditional  potter, 

333-  . 

Gyokusai.  See  Yahei  (Tanaka). 


Hachibei,  potter,  246. 

Hachirobei,  Moto-ishi,  potter,  108. 

Hachiroemon,  Chikuzen  potters  of 
two  generations,  316. 

Hachiroemon,  lida.  See  lida. 

Hachizo,  Korean  potter  in  Chikuzen, 
313;  descendants,  316. 

Hafu-gama  ware,  272. 

Hagi  ware,  343-345. 

Haji  family,  potters,  255. 

Hakuan,  potter,  ,274. 

Haku-yaku-de  ware,  301. 

Kara  Yosobei,  potter,  258. 

Harima  province,  Himeji  porcelain, 
372  ; Maiko  ware,  373  ; Akashi 
wares,  373»  374- 

Haritsu,  potter,  his  Raku  faience, 
386;  modelled  ware,  387. 

Harunori,  Tokugawa,  chief  of  Kishiu, 
patron  of  Zengoro,  220,  375; 
private  kiln,  374. 

Harutaka,  Fuji,  potter,  117. 

Haruzane,  Higuchi,  potter,  417  ; his 
“grains-of-rice”  porcelain,  419. 

Hase.  See  Miyagawa  Kozan. 

Hasegawa  family,  potters,  202. 

Hashimoto  Hachibei,  potter,  254. 

Hattori  Tsuna.  See  Keren. 

Havard,  Henry,  on  Keizer’s  imita- 
tion of  Japanese  porcelain,  85. 

Hawthorn  pattern,  78. 

Hayakawa  Kabei,  potter,  3 1 8. 

Hayashi  family,  potters,  115,  117, 

Heibei,  Funaki,  potter,  338. 

Heibei,  Higuchi,  potter,  1 1 8. 

Heiemon,  Hirata,  potter,  326. 

Heii,  Boku.  See  Boku. 

Hei-ichiro,  Kimura,  potter,  333. 

Heishichi,  Moto-ishi,  potter,  109. 

Heisuke,  potter,  246. 

Heizo,  Iwamatsu,  potter,  1 1 4. 

Hi-dasuki  Bizen  ware,  331. 

Hideyoshi,  the  Taiko,  as  a patron  of 
keramics,  29—31. 

Higashijima  Tokuemon,  potter,  de- 
velops decoration  with  enamels, 
61,  1 1 2. 


436 


INDEX 


Higo  province,  minor  wares,  321  ; 
Yatsushiro  ware,  321—325;  por- 
celain, 325. 

Higuchi  family,  potters,  loi,  107, 

1 1 7,  1 1 8,  419.  See  also  Ima- 
mura. 

Hikiba,  Hizen,  faience,  108;  porce- 
lain, 109. 

Hiki-yama,  Satsuma,  pottery,  138. 

Hikoichiro,  Mori,  potter,  333. 

Himeji  porcelain,  372. 

Hirado  ware.  See  Mikawachi. 

Hirata  family,  potters,  makers  of 
Fukakusa  ware,  326. 

Hisano  Seihaku,  potter,  348. 

Hisatani  Genichi,  potter,  1 1 2. 

Hisatani  Yojibei,  Arita  potter,  de- 
velops a foreign  trade,  1 1 1 . 

Hitachi  province,  Mito  ware,  406. 

Hizen,  Shonzui’s  porcelain,  22-25  5 
his  successors,  25,  42,  54  ; topog- 
raphy, 41  ; Korean  potters,  42, 
54,  56  ; obscurity  of  early  keramic 
history,  54 ; discovery  of  porce- 
lain stone,  55;  composition  and 
use  of  various  porcelain  stones,  58, 
65-67  ; process  of  manufacturing 
porcelain,  67-75  J composition  of 
porcelain,  72,  73  ; potters,  107, 
108,  112-118.  See  also  Arita, 
Hikiba,  Kame-yama,  Karatsu,  Mi- 
kawachi, Odashi,  Okawachi. 

Hochiu,  Korean  potter,  135  ; at 
Chosa,  136;  at  Hiki-yama,  138; 
descendants,  138,  158. 

Hoko,  Kawara,  potter,  1 44 ; repro- 
duces the  Chosa  ware,  144  ; 
travels,  145. 

Honami  family,  sword  experts  and 
potters,  35. 

Honda  Teikichi,  potter,  245  ; fac- 
tory at  Wakasugi,  246,  248. 

Hongo,  Iwashiro,  Aizu  ware,  394,  , 

395- 

Hosan,  Agano,  potter,  323. 

Hoshiyama  Chiubei,  potter,  travels, 

145. 


Hotta  Sozaburo,  potter,  379. 

Hozan,  potter,  188;  style,  197. 

Hozen.  See  Zengoro. 

Hyogo  Prefecture.  See  Settsu. 

IcHiBEi,  potter,  1 17. 

Ichiemon,  Sawa,  potter,  339. 

Ichi-no-kura,  Mino,  egg-shell  porce- 
lain, 303. 

Identification,  of  Shonzui’s  porcelain, 
24  ; of  early  Arita  blue-and-white 
faience,  26 ; of  Arita  porcelain, 
89,  128;  of  Okawachi  porcelain, 
97,  123  ; of  Mikawachi  porcelain, 
128  ; of  old  Satsuma  ware,  146— 
152,  1 66-1 68  ; of  Ninsei’s  ware, 
184;  of  Awata  faience,  189, 
204  ; of  Iwakura  faience,  204  ; of 
old  and  middle  period  Kutani  ware, 
204,  238,  240  ; of  Owari  porce- 
lain, 297;  of  Owari  counterfeit  Sat- 
suma, 299  ; of  Bizen  and  Shidoro 
wares,  335.  See  also  table  of 
Marks  and  Seals. 

lemon,  Fukuda,  potter,  109. 

Iga,  Awaji.  See  Awaji  ware. 

Iga  province,  ancient  ware,  400  ; 
ware  resembling  Seto  ware,  401. 

Igarashi  Jizaemon,  potter,  improves 
the  Takatori  ware,  314. 

Igarashi  Shimpei,  potter,  381  ; de- 
scendants, 381. 

lida  Hachiroemon,  artist,  his  Hachi- 
roe  decoration,  249,  251;  com- 
pared with  Wazen’s  style,  252. 

Ikeda  Mompei,  amateur  potter,  367. 

Imado  ware,  384. 

Imaemon,  Imaizumi,  potter,  115. 

Imai  Gicmon,  potter,  155. 

Imaizumi  family,  potters,  115. 

Imamura  family,  potters,  100,  107. 
See  also  Higuchi. 

Imari,  port  of  Arita,  name  given  to 
Arita  ware,  60. 

Imbe  Kyonushi,  potter,  176. 

Imbe  ware,  329,  331. 

Immigration,  Mongoloid,  2,  427. 


437 


INDEX 


Inui  Katsu-no-suke,  potter,  218. 

Inuyama  ware,  295. 

Ippo,  Agano,  potter,  323. 

Irie  family,  potters,  218. 

Ise  province.  See  Banko  ware. 

Iseya.  See  Yosobei  of  Kyoto. 

Ishida  Heikichi,  potter,  247. 

Ishida  Heizo,  potter,  254. 

Ishikawa  Prefecture.  See  Kaga. 

Itakura  family,  potters,  346. 

Ito  Koemon.  See  1 ozan. 

Ito  Tozan,  potter,  his  faience  with 
decorations  under  the  glaze,  423. 

Itsgen.  See  Sahei. 

Itsniu.  See  Sahei. 

Ivory  white  porcelain,  Chinese  and 
Korean,  43  ; Seifu’s,  418. 

Iwaki  province.  Soma  ware,  395— 

397. 

Iwakura,  Kyoto,  potteries,  one  of 
Ninsei’s  workshops,  182;  obscur- 
ity, 205  ; closed,  206. 

Iwamatsu  family,  potters,  1 1 4. 

Iwami  province,  porcelain,  340  ; 
imitation  Baku  faience,  341. 

Iwao,  Korean  potter  in  Hizen,  56. 

Iwasaki  family,  potters,  115. 

Iwashiro  province,  Aizu  faience  and 
porcelain,  394. 

Iwayo  family,  potters,  114. 

lyo  province,  porcelain,  343. 

Izumi  province,  Minato  ware,  354. 

Izumo  province,  early  keramic  in- 
dustry, 6 ; modern  faience,  335, 
337,  340;  Rakuzan  ware,  336; 
origin  of  Fujina  ware,  336  ; its 
varieties,  337~339  » potters,  338, 
339  5 porcelain,  340  ; probable 
point  of  Mongoloid  immigration, 
427. 

Jacquemart,  Albert,  errors  on  Japan- 
ese porcelain,  18,  91  ; error  on 
Korean  porcelain,  53. 

Jimbei,  Tanaka,  potter,  36. 

Jingo,  empress,  invasion  of  Korea,  7. 

Jin-no-suke,  Hayashi,  potter,  115. 


Jirobei,  Soejima,  potter,  1 1 6. 

Jirokichi,  Agano,  potter,  324.. 

Jisaku,  Soejima,  potter,  116. 

Jiujiro,  Higuchi,  potter,  108. 

Joen,  Imamura,  potter,  100,  107; 
discovers  a special  clay  at  Mika- 
wachi,  100. 

Joen  Daimyojin,  name  under  which 
Imamura  Yajibei  was  worshipped, 
loi.  \ 

Juemon,  Fukuda,  potter,  109. 

Juji  Kihachiro,  potter,  403. 

Juji  Kizo,  Korean  potter  in  Buzen, 
402  ; descendants,  402,  403. 

Jakan,  Chin,  potter,  159,  422. 

Junsaburo,  Imamura,  potter,  107. 

Jutaro,  Mashimizu,  potter,  225. 

Juzaemon,  Kawara,  potter,  144,  155, 
158. 

Kada  Hanroku,  potter,  336. 

Kaempfer,  Engelbrecht,  on  Japanese 
trade,  40;  on  Kyoto  manufactures, 
173- 

Kaga  province,  early  ware,  236  ; 
Kutani  ware,  236-241,  248-252  ; 
composition  of  the  ware,  241— 
244  ; Nomi  district  potteries,  246— 
249  ; kilns,  248  ; post-feudal 
conditions,  252  ; character  of  mod- 
ern ware,  253  ; marks,  254  ; 
Ohi  faience,  255—258;  so-called 
Ohi  faience,  258  ; ware  espe- 
cially called  Kaga,  259. 

Kageto.  See  Kichizaemon  of  Owari. 

Kagiya  family,  potters,  188,  195. 

Kagoshima  Prefecture.  See  Satsuma. 

Kairaku-en  ware,  375;  imitation,  377. 

Kajiwara  family,  potters,  115. 

Kajti  Mimpei,  potter,  350-352  ; suc- 
cessors, 352. 

Kakiemon.  See  Sakaida. 

Kakuji,  Mori,  potter,  333. 

Kakusaburo,  Funaki,  potter,  338. 

Kambei,  Ohi,  potters  of  three  genera- 
tions, 256. 

Kamei  Sahei,  potter,  1 1 9. 


INDEX 


Kameoka,  aboriginal  pottery,  i . 

Kame-yama,  Hizen,  origin  of  the  fac- 
tory, 1 1 8 ; character  of  the  porce- 
lain, 1 1 9,  128;  other  ware,  119. 

Kanagai  Risampei,  Korean  potter  in 
Hizen,  discovers  porcelain  stone, 
56  ; kiln  at  Arita,  57,  60. 

Kanaoka  Otoemon,  potter,  343. 

Kanda  Sobei,  manufacturer  of  Sanda 
ware,  380. 

Kanematsu  Shosuke,  potter,  296. 

Kaneshige,  potter,  329. 

Kanetaro,  Iwayo,  potter,  114. 

Kankoku  ware,  332. 

Kansai.  See  Yahei  (Tanaka). 

Kantei,  potter,  218. 

Kanzan  Denshichi,  potter,  227. 

Karatsu,  Hizen,  beginnings  of  keramic 
manufacture,  307,  312;  character 
of  early  ware,  308  ; imitations, 
309;  influence  of  Korean  potters, 
310,  31 1;  presentation  ware, 

3ii‘ 

Kaseyama  or  Shikase-yama  ware,  230, 

327- 

Kasuki,  Sawa,  potter,  339. 

Kato  Enroku  family,  potters,  275. 

Kat5  Gosuke,  potter,  293. 

Kato  Gosuke  family,  potters,  275. 

Katb  Jyokichi  family,  potters,  275. 

Kato  Kagemasa,  potter,  277. 

Kato  Kanshiro  family,  potters,  275. 

Kato  Kansuke,  potter,  293. 

Kato  Masukichi,  potter,  417;  egg- 
shell porcelain,  420. 

Kato  Mokuzayemon,  potter,  293. 

Kato  Monemon  family,  potters,  275. 

Kato  Nagatoshi,  potter,  258. 

Kato  Sadataro  family,  potters,  275. 

Kat5  Shirozaemon,  potter,  visit  to 
China,  13,  264;  character  of  his 
Seto  ware,  13,  265;  called 

Shunkei,  14,  267;  commemoration 
tablet,  14-16;  deified,  15;  in- 
fluence and  esteem,  16,  266—268, 
272  ; early  ware,  261  ; early  life 
and  name,  263  ; search  for  suitable 


Kato  Shirozaemon  {continued')  : 
clay,  264  ; kilns  at  Seto,  265  ; 
called  Toshiro,  265  ; grades  of  his 
ware,  266 ; confused  names  for 
his  ware,  266,  270  ; son’s  ware, 
270  ; grandson’s  ware,  271  ; great- 
grandson’s  ware,  272. 

Kato  Shozaburo  family,  potters,  275. 

Kato  Shyubei  family,  potters,  275. 

Kato  Tomotaro,  potter,  394,  417; 
porcelain  after  Chinese  models, 
419. 

Kato  Zenji,  potter,  293. 

Katsuzaemon,  Fukuda,  potter,  109. 

Katsuzo,  Tsuji,  potter,  and  the 
Koran-sha,  1 1 3 ; establishes  the 
Seiji-sha,  1 1 3 . 

Kawamoto  Hansuke,  potter,  292. 

Kawamoto  Hansuke  family,  potters, 

Kawamoto  Jihei,  potter,  292,  295. 

Kawamoto  Sukegoro  family,  potters, 
275. 

Kawara  Chujiro,  potter,  113. 

Kawara  family,  potters,  138,  144. 

Kawashiri  Kahei,  potter,  254. 

Kawashiri  Shichibei,  potter,  247. 

Keikichi,  Higuchi,  potter,  108. 

Keiniu.  See  Kichizaemon  (Tanaka). 

Keizer,  Aelbregt  de.  Delft  potter, 
imitation  of  Japanese  porcelain,  85. 

Kenemon,  Funaki,  potters  of  two 
generations,  338. 

Kenjo-garatsu  ware,  3 1 1 . 

Kentei,  potter,  unglazed  pottery, 
217  ; decoration,  217  ; change- 
able colour  of  his  ware,  217; 
descendants,  218. 

Kenzan,  Awata  potter,  attainments, 
190;  decorative  style,  190— 192  ; 
mark,  192  ; descendants,  192. 

Kenzan  ware,  295. 

Keramics,  obscurity  of  early  history, 
I,  8,  54;  aboriginal  ware,  i; 
dolmen  pottery,  2-5  ; dolmen 
effigies,  5 ; early  official  status,  6 ; 
traditional  Shiragi  ware,  7 ; influ- 


439  . 


INDEX 


Keramics  {continued')  : 

ence  of  Gyogi,  8 ; in  the  eighth 
century,  lo  ; conditions  up  to  the 
twelfth  century,  i 2 ; influence  of 
introduction  of  tea,  i 2 ; Chinese, 
13,  19-21,  41 1— 414;  work  and 
influence  of  Kato  Shirozaemon,  1 3— 
1 7 ; influence  of  the  tea  ceremonial, 
5o-53»  86,  177,  261,  268- 
270,  398,  410  ; influence  of  the 
feudal  wars,  26-29  ; revival  under 
Hideyoshi,  29-3 1 ; importation  of 
Korean  potters,  31,  42,  54,  135, 
138,  159,  164-166,  175;  con- 
fusion of  Chinese  and  Korean 
wares,  43-45;  Korean,  43-54; 
Japanese  trade  advantages,  71  ; 
conditions  of  Dutch  about  1640, 
76  ; interaction  of  Dutch  and 
Japanese,  84-86 ; influence  of 
Occidental  trade,  131,  414-416; 
use  of  moulds,  215,  362;  Kernel’s 
unglazed  pottery,  217;  prosperity 
during  Tokugawa  epoch,  220 ; 
traditional  origin,  262  ; Koren 
ware,  393  ; influence  of  the 
antique,  409  ; distinguished  prod- 
ucts of  feudal  period  41 1 ; Jap- 
anese and  Chinese,  compared, 
41 1 -4 1 4.  See  also  Faience, 
Porcelain. 

Keyakida  Zenjiro,  potter,  352. 

Kichibei,  amateur  potter,  178. 

Kichibei,  Awata  potter,  used  Iwakura 
mark,  206. 

Kichibei,  Kagiya,  potter,  188. 

Kichibei,  Tanaka,  potter,  36. 

Kichizaemon  of  Owari,  potter,  at- 
tempts porcelain  manufacture,  283, 
284  ; success,  286  ; called  Kageto, 
286. 

Kichizaemon,  Tanaka,  several  genera- 
tions of  potters,  36,  37. 

Kichizo,  potter,  399. 

Kidayu,  Yama-no-uchi,  potter,  108. 

Kihei.  See  Kisaburo. 

Kiheiji,  potter,  3 1 2. 


Kihyo,  potter,  188. 

Kikko  ware,  383. 

Kikujiro,  Kajiwara,  potter,  115. 

Kilns,  for  Japanese  porcelain,  70  ; for 
ordinary  pottery,  1 60  ; for  faience, 
162  ; Kyoto,  235  ; expert  in, 
235  ; Kaga,  248  ; for  Raku  ware, 
386; 

Kimbei,  Iwasaki,  potter,  115. 

Kimura  family,  potters,  333. 

Kinka-2;an  ware,  271. 

Kinko-zan,  stamp  of  the  Kagiya 
family,  196. 

Kinrande  ware,  220. 

Kintaro,  Kawara,  potter,  158. 

Kinzo,  Funaki,  potter,  338. 

Kisaburo,  potter,  138,  169. 

Ki-Seto  ware,  271,  274. 

Kishi  Denzo,  potter,  395. 

Kishi  Raku  ware,  397. 

Kishiu  province,  Zengoro’s  Oniwa 
ware,  375  ; imitations,  377  ; 
Meppo  or  Zuishi  porcelain,  378. 

Kita  family,  potters,  342. 

Kitamura  Denzaemon,  potter,  154. 

Kitei,  Wake,  potters  of  four  genera- 
tions, 226. 

Kiushichi,  potter,  179,  187. 

Kizo,  Agano  (Sonkai),  Korean  pot- 
ter, brought  to  Japan,  321  ; his 
ware,  322;  descendants,  323, 

324- 

Ko-Bizen  vfzrty  329,  331. 

Kobe  ware,  379. 

Kobori  Masakazu,  chief  of  Enshiu, 
amateur  in  keramics,  improves  and 
patronises  the  T akatori  ware,  3 1 4- 
316;  interest  in  Iga  ware,  40 1 . 

Kochi,  Tosa,  early  Odo  ware,  348  ; 
later  Odo  ware,  348,  349;  mod- 
ern ware,  350. 

Koemon,  Hirata,  potter,  improve- 
ments in  Fukakusa  ware,  327. 

Koemon,  Yamamoto,  potter,  139. 

Koetsu,  Honami,  sword  expert  and 
potter,  35. 

Kohei,  amateur  potter,  178. 


440 


INDEX 


Kohi,  alleged  potter,  8. 

Koichi,  potter,  316. 

Kojiro,  Fukushima,  potter,  1 1 5. 

Kokichi,  potter,  316. 

Koishikawa  porcelain,  394. 

Kokubu  ware,  367. 

Komagai  ware  of  Korea,  1 40. 

Komatsu,  Kaga,  pottery,  247  ; re- 
vival of  Kutani  ware,  248. 

Kono  Senemon,  potter,  144. 

Koraizaemon,  Ban,  Korean  potter  in 
Nagato,  344  ; descendants,  345. 

Koran-shay  keramic  society,  influence, 

Korea,  early  intercourse  with  Japan, 
7 ; potters  taken  to  Japan,  31,  42, 
,54,  135,  138,  159,  164-166, 
175  ; confusion  of  Chinese  and 
Korean  keramics,  43-45  ; decline 
of  keramic  art,  45,  53  ; varieties  of 
ware,  46-53  ; character  of  the 
ware,  53. 

Koren,  female  potter,  393  ; her 
modelled  ware,  393. 

Kosai,  Sumiemon,  potter,  339. 

Kosai.  See  Chozo. 

Kosan,  amateur  potter,  178. 

Koseki  Tonroku,  potter,  100. 

Ko-Seto  ware,  261,  266,  270. 

Koshiro  ware,  321. 

Kosobe  ware,  381. 

Koto  porcelain,  371. 

Kozawa  Benshi,  potter,  387. 

Kuchu,  Honami,  potter,  35. 

Kuhei,  Irie,  potter,  218. 

Kumakichi,  potter,  227. 

Kumamoto  Prefecture.  See  Higo. 

Kumanosuke,  various  potters,  de- 
scendants of  Yasuchika,  188. 

Kumenosuke,  Hasegawa,  potter,  202. 

Kurazaki  Otojuro,  potter,  346. 

Kurin-ya  Gembei,  potter,  258. 

Kuritaro.  See  Rokubei. 

Kurobei,  potter,  acquires  knowledge 
of  enamelling,  i 8 1 . 

Kuroda  Nagamasa,  chief  of  Chikuzen, 
patron  of  keramics,  313,  31 8-3  20. 


Kutani,  Kaga,  discovery  of  porcelain 
stone,  236  ; beginning  of  porcelain 
manufacture,  236  ; character  of  the 
Ao- Kutani  porcelain,  237—239  ; 
character  of  the  Ko-Kutani  porce- 
lain, 239—241  ; cessation  of  man- 
ufacture, 244  ; revival  of  the  ware, 
248—250  ; character  of  the  revived 
ware,  251  ; second  or  modern  re- 
vival of  the  ware,  254  ; marks, 
254;  imitation  ware,  318. 

Kyokan.  See  Tonroku. 

Kyomizu  Kanzo,  potter,  382. 

Kyomizu,  Kyoto,  factories,  209  ; 
potters  and  products,  209—2 1 3 ; 
porcelain,  210,  212;  composition 
of  the  faience,  232. 

Kyosaku,  Yama-no-uchi,  potter,  108. 

Kyoto,  Raku  ware,  32-38  ; Kaemp- 
fer  on  its  manufactures,  173; 
vicissitudes,  1 74 ; beginning  of 
keramic  industry,  176-178;  ke- 
ramic products  before  1600,  179; 
Ninsei’s  art  and  influence,  180— 
I 86  ; beginning  of  enamelled  dec- 
oration, 181  ; potteries,  182,  187; 
Mokubei’s  ware,  215;  Shuhei’s 
ware,  216;  Kentei’s  unglazed 
pottery,  217  ; Takayama  and  Irie 
families,  218;  Zengoro’s  ware, 
219—225  ; other  potters,  225— 
232  ; composition  of  porcelain, 
234  ; kilns,  235  ; modern  porce- 
lain after  Chinese  models,  417  ; 
modern  faience  decorated  under 
the  glaze,  423.  See  also  Awata, 
Iwakura,  Kyomizu,  Mizoro. 

Kyubei,  potter,  246. 

Kyuhachi,  Mikuni,  potter,  373. 

Lacquer,  on  Soshiro  ware,  30,  326  ; 
on  Arita  porcelain,  92—94 ; on 
Kyoto  faience,  198  ; on  Toyo- 
suke  ware,  281. 

Madasuke,  potter,  340. 

Maeda  family,  potters,  115. 


441 


INDEX 


Magoemon,  Fuji,  potter,  117. 

Magozaemon  Sonkiu,  potter,  402 ; 
descendants,  403. 

Maiko  ware,  373. 

Makuzu.  See  Chozo. 

Makuzu  ware,  405,  416;  composi- 
tion, 405. 

Manaka  Kobutsu  Seto  ware,  270. 

Maruyama  ware,  295. 

Masafusa,  Imamura,  potter,  107. 

Masakichi,  Korean  potter  in  Japan, 
ware,  32-35  ; descendants,  32, 

36. 

Masayoshi,  Imamura,  potter,  107. 

Mashimizu  Jutaro.  See  Zoroku. 

Masukichi,  potter,  292. 

Matakichi,  Yama-no-uchi,  potter, 

108. 

Matsubara  Shinsuke,  potter,  254. 

Matsumoto,  Nagato,  Hagi  ware, 
344  ; modern  ware,  347. 

Matsumoto  Kikusaburo,  potter,  247. 

Matsumoto  Sahei,  potter,  254. 

Matsumura  Jisaburo,  potter,  326. 

Matsuo  Kisaburo,  potter,  117. 

Matsura,  chief  of  Hirado,  patron  of 
the  Mikawachi  potters,  102. 

Meppo  porcelain,  378. 

Michihei,  potter,  295. 

Michitada,  Ohi,  potter,  257. 

Mifuji  Bunzo,  potter,  254. 

Mifukai  ware,  278. 

Mikawachi,  Hizen,  beginnings  of  ke- 
ramic  industry,  100;  special  clays, 
10 1 ; first  porcelain,  loi  ; official 
patronage,  102  ; character  of  por- 
celain, 102,  128;  decoration, 

103— 105  ; modelled  ware,  105  ; 
egg-shell  porcelain,  105,  no— 
1 12  ; porcelain  not  marked,  106  ; 
potters,  1 07-1 09  ; control  of  the 
potteries,  109;  decline,  109; 
recovery,  no. 

Miho.  See  Hisatani  Yojibei. 

Mikuni  family,  potters,  373. 

Mimpe  ware,  352. 

Minato  ware,  354. 


Mino  province,  wares  not  distin- 
guished from  Owari  wares,  300  ; 
beginnings  of  keramic  industry, 
301;  faience,  301  ; polychrome 
glaze,  302  ; character  of  the  in- 
dustry, 305. 

Mishima  Satsuma  ware,  171. 

Mitani  Rinzo,  potter,  342. 

Mito  ware,  406. 

Mitsuhisa,  chief  of  Satsuma,  patron  of 
keramic  art,  143. 

Mitsutaro,  Kimura,  potter,  333. 

Miura  Kenya,  potter,  387. 

Miyagawa  Kozan  or  Shozan,  potter, 
232,  404;  his  Makuzu  ware, 
405,  416  ; his  porcelain,  406, 
416,  418. 

Miyai  Saguro,  potter,  377. 

Mizoguchi,  potter,  117. 

Mizoro,  Kyoto,  factory,  one  of  Nin- 
sei’s  workshops,  182;  origin,  187, 
207  ; unglazed  ware,  207  ; char- 
acter of  the  ware,  208. 

Mizuna  Genzaemon,  potter,  394. 

Modelling,  in  Mikawachi  porcelain, 
105,  106;  in  Arita  porcelain, 
106;  in  Kyoto  ware,  196;  in 
Takatori  ware,  317;  in  Sohichi 
ware,  320;  in  Fukakusa  ware, 
327;  in  Bizen  ware,  329;  in 
Shidoro  ware,  335  ; in  Minato 
ware,  354  ; in  Yusetsu  Banko 
ware,  363,  365  ; by  Haritsu, 
387  ; in  Keren  ware,  393  ; in 
Makuzu  ware,  405. 

Moemon,  amateur  potter  of  Kyoto, 
178. 

Moemon,  Mori,  potter,  333. 

Moemon,  Okushi,  potter,  115. 

Moemon,  Soejima,  potter,  115,  116, 

Mogibei,  potter,  401. 

Mohei,  Kagiya,  potter,  195. 

Mokubei,  potter,  195,  214;  imita- 
tion of  Cochin  China  and  other 
wares,  215;  uses  moulds,  215; 
mark,  216;  daughter,  216. 

Mokume  ware,  403. 


INDEX 


Mommu,  emperor,  influence  on  keram- 
ics,  lo. 

Momota,  Korean  potter  in  Hizen, 

56- 

Mori  family,  Bizen,  potters,  329, 
332. 

Mori  Yusetsu.  See  Yusetsu. 
Morimoto  Chusuke,  potter,  343. 
Morimoto  Sukezaemon,  potter,  230, 

328-. 

Morishita  Hachizaemon,  potter,  421. 
Morita  Mitsuhisa,  potter,  348,  349. 
Mosaburo,  Mikuni,  potter,  373. 
Mosaics,  faience,  386,  387. 
Moto-ishi  family,  potters,  108,  109. 
Moulds,  used  by  Mokubei,  215;  used 
in  Yusetsu  Banko  ware,  362. 
Mukai  Genji,  potter,  343. 

Myamoto  Riemon,  potter,  249. 
Myamoto  Uemon,  potter,  249. 
Myoei,  potter,  37. 

Myogi,  potter,  37. 

Myoniu,  potter,  36. 

Myoshu,  potter,  36. 

Nabeshima,  chiefs  of  Hizen,  patrons 
ofkeramic  industry,  54,  95,  115, 
1 16. 

Nabeshima  ware.  See  Okawachi. 
Nagahara  Yozo,  potter,  339. 

Nagami  Fusazo,  potter,  341. 
Nagamitsu  Yasutoshi,  potter,  ancestor 
of  Haji  or  Ohi  family,  255. 

Nagao  Teigoro,  potter,  326. 

Nagaoka  family,  potters,  339. 
Nagarasan  ware,  370. 

Nagato  province,  origin  of  Hagi  ware, 
344  ; its  character,  344,  345  ; 
potters,  345,  346 ; other  facto- 
ries, 346  ; porcelain,  346;  modern 
faience,  347. 

Nakagawa  Buhei,  potter,  318. 
Nakagawa  Genzaemon,  potter,  254. 
Nakamura  Masagord,  potter,  210. 
Nakashima  Nobunari,  potter,  118. 
Nakazato  Keizo,  potter,  312. 

Nami  Hanzaemon,  potter,  346. 


Nangawa,  Hizen,  factory  of  Shonzui’s 
successors,  42,  54. 

Naniwa  ware,  383. 

Narumi,  Owari,  Oribe  ware,  275. 

Nawashiro,  Satsuma,  pottery,  estab- 
lishment, 140;  origin  of  Satsuma 
ware,  1 40-1 42  ; enamelled  faience, 
152;  post-feudal  conditions,  159— 
166. 

Ninagawa  Noritane,  errors  on  Jap- 
anese keramics,  ii,  142;  errors 
on  Korean  porcelain,  43. 

Ninsei,  Nomura,  potter,  early  life, 
180;  manufacture  of  enamelled 
faience,  181,  185  ; influence  on 
decorative  style,  182;  technical 
improvements,  183  ; crackle  in  his 
ware,  183  ; varieties  of  his  ware, 
184;  mark,  184;  counterfeited, 
184;  identification  of  his  ware, 
185  ; methods  of  decoration,  186, 
189;  no  descendants,  186  ; work- 
shops, 187. 

Nintosai.  Yahei  (Tanaka). 

- Nishimura  family,  potters,  2 1 9.  See 
also  Zengoro. 

Nishino-umi  OtSsuke,  potter,  374. 

Nishi-yoda,  Satsuma,  factory,  failure 
in  porcelain,  i 54  ; faience  produc- 
tions, 157. 

Nobu.  See  Otagaki  Rengetsu. 

Nochazan  w'are,  349. 

Nochi-gama  ware,  275. 

Nochi  Shunkei  ware,  281. 

Noda  Kichiemon,  potter,  154. 

Noda  Matashichi,  potter,  321. 

Noda  Shota,  potter,  340. 

N5mi,  Kaga,  potteries,  246-249 ; 
character  of  the  ware,  251. 

Nomura  Seisuke  or  Ninsei.  See  Ninsei. 

Nonko.  See  Doniu. 

Nosaka,  potter,  400. 

Numanami  Gozaemon,  amateur  pot- 
ter, origin  and  character  of  his 
ware,  358-360;  mark,  360;  no 
successors,  361  ; revival  of  his 
ware,  361. 


443 


Oba,  potter,  329. 

Obanawa,  painter  of  keramics,  389. 

Obasen,  Fukami,  potter,  1 14. 

Oda,  Higo,  porcelain  factory,  325. 

Odashi,  Hizen,  potteries,  116— 118. 

Odo  ware,  348 ; Tokyo  ware  so 
called,  349. 

Oe  ware,  366. 

Ogata  Kichisaburo,  potter,  216  ; 
figure  subjects,  217. 

Ogata  Sansei.  See  Kenzan. 

Ogawa  Kyuemon,  expert  in  kilns, 
235;  his  faience,  328. 

Ogawa  Ritsuo.  See  Haritsu. 

Ogawa  Riuzaemon,  potter,  328. 

Ogori  Sotan,  patron  of  keramics,  404. 

Ohashi  Rakuzen,  potter,  223,  224. 

Ohi  family,  potters,  256,  257. 

Ohi  ware,  255,  257  ; faience  popu- 
larly so  called,  258. 

Okabe  Tokuzb,  potter,  321. 

Okami  Buhei,  potter,  119. 

Okami  Jingoro,  potter,  119. 

Okamoto  Sadagoro,  potter,  401. 

Okamoto  Sadahachi,  potter,  401. 

Okamura  Jbsaku,  potter,  356. 

Okawachi,  Hizen,  beginnings  of 
keramic  industry,  94 ; porcelain 
manufacture,  94,  95  ; official  pat- 
ronage, 95  ; character  of  the  por- 
celain, 96,  123-128;  identifica- 
tion of  the  porcelain,  97  ; prod- 
ucts monopolised  by  the  feudal 
lord,  98  ; celadon y 98  ; modern 
conditions,  99  ; export  of  the 
ware,  123,  126  ; crackle,  128. 

Oku-gorai  ware,  308. 

Okumura  Yasutaro.  See  Shozan. 

Okura  Seishichi,  potter,  254. 

Okushi  family,  potters,  115. 

Old  Japan,  porcelain,  origin,  78  ; 
character,  79  ; designs  of  decora- 
tion, 80-82  ; dominant  colours, 
82  ; identification,  89  ; not  a 
characteristic  ware,  132. 

Omi  province,  source  of  faience  ma- 
terials, 365  ; ancient  kilns,  365  ; 


Omi  province  {continued)  : 

Zeze  wares,  366-368  ; Shigaraki 
ware,  368-370;  Shigaraki  clay, 
370;  Nagarasan  ware,  370;  Koto 
porcelain,  371. 

Omuro  ware,  182. 

Oniwa  ware,  375,  387  ; imitation, 

377- 

Ono  Genriu-hi,  potter-priest,  154; 
his  faience  ware,  157  ; descend- 
ants, 157 

Ono-mura,  Kaga,  pottery,  247,  248. 

Oribe  ware,  275. 

Ota,  imitation  Satsuma  ware,  404 ; 
Makuzu  ware,  405  ; porcelain, 
406,  418. 

Otagaki  Rengetsu,  female  potter  and 
poet,  230;  her  ware,  231. 

Otoroku,  potter,  179,  187. 

Otowaya,  early  Kyoto  potter,  179, 
187. 

Otowaya  Sozaemon.  See  Kentei. 

Owari  province,  traditional  ware, 
263  ; Oribe  ware,  275  ; Shino 
ware,  276;  Gempin  ware,  276; 
Mifukai  ware,  278  ; Shuntai  ware, 
279  ; fiambe  glazes,  279  ; To- 
koname  ware,  280  ; Toyosuke 
Raku  ware,  281  ; origin  of  por- 
celain manufacture,  282-287 ; 
composition  of  the  porcelain,  287, 
291  ; variable  character  of  the 
porcelain,  288-290  ; modern 
conditions,  292,  306  ; counterfeit 
Satsuma  faience,  299.  See  also  Seto. 

Oyamado  Sahei,  patron  of  Mikawachi 
potters,  10 1. 

P ate- sur -pate  decoration,  198—201. 

Pigments.  See  Colours. 

Porcelain,  none  in  Shoso-in  collec- 
tion, II;  art  acquired  from  China, 
17,  21  ; Chinese  primacy,  19-21, 
62,  41 1-4 1 3 ; first  Japanese  man- 
ufacture, 22-25,  39-41  ; why 
not  followed  up,  26—29  ; Chinese 
ivory-white  mistaken  for  Korean, 


444 


INDEX 


Porcelain  {continued')'. 

43  ; discovery  of  porcelain  stone, 
5 5 ; composition  of  various  kinds, 
234,  407—409  ; modern,  after 
Chinese  models,  416-424. 

Hizen  : discovery  of  porcelain 
stone,  55;  early  Arita,  57, 
59  ; composition  and  varieties 
of  stone,  58,  64-67  ; devel- 
opment of  enamel  decoration 
in  Arita,  61-63  ; process, 
67—75  5 composition,  72  ; 
colours  used  in  decorating,  74, 
87;  influence  and  extent  of 
Dutch  trade,  75-87  ; Old 
Japan  ware,  79-82;  charac- 
teristics, 89,  97,  123-128; 
decorative  devices,  90,  94  ; 
art  decline,  92—94  ; Oka- 
wachi,  94—98 ; Mikawachi, 
101-107;  egg-shell,  105, 
1 1 o-l  I 2 ; rarity  of  unglazed, 
105  ; modelled,  105,  106  ; 
potters,  107,  108,  1 1 2-1 1 8 ; 
revival,  1 1 3 ; Odashi,  1 1 7 ; 
Kame-yama,  118,  128;  ex- 
port ware  not  characteristic, 
120— 122,  132;  modern 

grains-of-rice,’*  419. 

Kaga  : Ao-Kutanij  237-239  ; 
Ko-Kutaniy  239-241  ; com- 
position, 241-244  ; Waka- 
sugi,  246,  257  ; HachiroCy 
249,  25 1 ; modern,  253,  421. 

Kyoto:  beginnings,  2 10  ; blue- 
and-white,  212;  Mokubei’s, 
215;  Shuhei’s,  216;  Zen- 
goro’s,  220,  223,  224;  Seifu 
family,  226,  41 7 ; Yosobei’s, 
227  ; modern  conditions, 
233,417;  composition,  233. 

Mino  : beginnings,  302  ; blue- 
and-white  egg-shell,  303  ; 
decoration  over  the  glaze,  303, 
304;  domestic,  304;  Go- 
suke’s  decoration,  304 ; high- 
relief  modelled,  305. 


Porcelain  {continued)  : 

Owari  : beginnings  of  blue-and- 
white,  282—286;  composi- 
tion, 287,  288,  290  ; vari- 
able character  and  other 
difficulties,  288-290  ; char- 
acteristics, 292—294,  297  ; 
marks,  292 ; modern  condi- 
tions, 292,  296;  over-the- 
glaze  decoration,  294-297  ; 
cloisonne  decoration,  298  ; 
modern  egg-shell,  420. 
Miscellaneous:  Satsuma,  154— 
156;  Chikuzen,  320;  Higo, 
325;  Izumo,  340;  Iwami, 
340;  lyo,  343  ; Nagato, 
346;  Awaji,  353;  Koto, 
371  ; Himeji,  372;  Mepp5, 
378;  Sanda,  380;  Yedo, 
388,  418;  Koishikawa,  394; 
Aizu,  394,  395  ; Ota,  406, 
416,  418.  See  also  Faience, 
Keramics. 

Potter’s  wheel,  earliest  use,  2,  9; 
form,  68,  160. 

Pottery.  See  Keramics. 

Race  of  the  dolmen  builders,  4. 

Rai,  daughter  of  Mokubei,  potter,  2 1 6. 

RakS.  See  Jimbei. 

Raku  ware  and  potters,  32-38  ; his- 
torical importance,  38  ; easy  man- 
ufacture, 385  ; Yedo  mosaics  and 
figures,  386;  Kishi,  397. 

Rakuzan  ware,  336. 

Rekko,  chief  of  Mito,  his  ware,  406. 

Rengetsu  ware,  231. 

Riemon,  Higuchi,  potter,  108. 

Rihei,  Kita,  potter,  342. 

Rikei.  See  Koraizaemon. 

Rikiu-Shigaraki  ware,  369. 

Rinzo,  Soejima,  potter,  116. 

Risaburo,  Soejima,  potter,  1 1 6 ; 
founds  the  Seisei-shuy  116. 

Risampei.  See  Kanagai. 

Riuzan.  See  Yamamoto  Tatsuno- 
suke. 


445 


INDEX 


Riuzo,  Mori,  potter,  332. 

Rokubei,  potter,  21 1 ; mark,  21 1 ; 
decorative  style,  21 1 ; descend- 
ants, 212,  213. 

Roku  no  Yukansai,  potter,  232  ; de- 
scendants, 232. 

Rokuro  of  Meppo,  potter,  378. 

Rokuro  of  Sukikai-bashi,  potter,  327. 

Roku-roku-rin.  See  Chozo. 

Ryoemon,  Funaki,  potter,  338. 

Ryoniu.  5^/?  Kichizaemon  (Tanaka). 

Saburohei.  See  KJsaburo. 

Sagawa  Tomosuke,  potter,  343. 

Sahei,  Tanaka,  potter,  36. 

Sahyo.  See  Kichizaemon  (Tanaka). 

Saibei,  Agano,  potter,  323. 

Saiemon,  Ono,  potter,  157. 

Sakaida  Kakiemon,  potter,  55,  57  ; 
develops  decoration  with  enamels, 
61,  63  ; reputation,  7 5 ; descend- 
ants, 1 1 2 ; family  mark,  1 1 2 ; 
forgeries,  427. 

Sakamoto  Gembei,  potter,  343. 

Sakata  Densaku,  potter,  346. 

Sakon,  Irie,  potter,  219. 

Sakubei  Shigetoshi,  potter,  341  ; 
called  Kita,  342. 

Sakurai  ware,  382. 

Sakutaro,  Ohi,  potter,  257. 

Same  153. 

Samuro,  Iwamatsu,  potter,  114. 

Sanda  porcelain,  380. 

Saniu.  See  Kichizaemon  (Tanaka). 

San-no-jo.  Joen(Imamura). 

Sanuki  province,  imitation  Raku  ware, 
341  ; Takamatsu  ware,  342;  Shido 
ware,  342. 

Sartel,  M.  du,  on  Japanese  porcelains 
in  European  collections,  1 20,  i 24. 

Sasaki  Yozo,  potter,  318. 

Sasayama  ware,  399. 

Satow,  Sir  Ernest,  on  the  Nawashiro 
potteries,  159—166. 

Satsuma,  Occidental  reputation  of  its 
faience,  133;  character  of  old  and 
new  faience,  133— 135,  146—152, 


Satsuma  (^c  on  tinned^  : 

166-168  ; Korean  potters,  135; 
coloured  ware,  136-139,  152, 

157,  168-170;  origin  of  “ Sat- 
suma ware,”  140;  production  of 
enamelled  ware,  142-146,  152  ; 
hybrid  ware,  151,  166;  Same 
faience,  153  ; composition  of  the 
faience,  153,  156,  157;  porcelain 
manufacture,  154-156;  composi- 
tion of  the  porcelain,  156;  inferior 
faience,  1 7 1 ; faience  compared 
with  Kyoto  faience,  206,  207 : 
modern  a jour  decoration,  421. 
See  also  Chosa,  Nawashiro,  Tadeno, 
Tatsumonji. 

Sawa  family,  potters,  339. 

Sawada  Shunzan,  potter,  318. 

Sawamura  Tosa,  potter,  229. 

Seggars,  origin  and  use,  74. 

Seibei,  Honda,  potter,  246. 

Seibei,  Nomura.  See  Ninsei. 

Seibei  Yahyo,  potter,  209. 

Seifu  family,  potters,  226,  417. 

Seifu  Yohei,  potter,  Chinese  models, 
4i7. 

Seiji-sha,  keramic  society,  purpose 
and  influence,  113. 

Seiki,  Boku,  potter,  152. 

Seikuan,  Boku,  potter,  152. 

Seimon,  Fukuda,  potter,  109. 

Seisai,  Rokubei,  potter,  212;  mark, 

Seiyemon,  Nomura.  See  Ninsei. 

Sen  no  Rikiu  and  Rakuvizx^y  32,  37. 

Seta  ware,  366. 

Seto,  Owari,  Tsshiro^s  kiln,  13-16, 
265  ; character  and  esteem  of  his  , 
Seto  faience,  265-268,  272  ; 

ware  of  his  immediate  descendants, 
270-272  ; later  ware,  272-275, 
278;  mark,  274;  porcelain  man- 
ufacture, 282—287  ; character  of 
porcelain,  292 ; over-the-glaze 
decoration,  294-297  ; modern 
egg-shell  porcelain,  420. 

Setoguchi  family,  potters,  114. 


446 


INDEX 


Seto-mono,  origin  of  the  term,  14. 

Setosuke  ware,  300. 

Settsu  province,  Kobe  ware,  378— 
380;  Sanda  porcelain,  380; 
Kosobe  ware,  381  ; Sakurai  ware, 
382. 

Shibunosuke,  Sakaida,  potter,  1 1 2. 

Shida  Yasukyo,  revival  of  Chinese 
models,  421. 

Shido  ware,  342. 

Shidoro  ware,  333—335  ; modelled 
ware,  335  ; identification,  335. 

Shigaraki  ware,  368-370;  composi- 
tion of  clay,  370. 

Shijo  school  of  pictorial  art,  style, 

1 94 ; influence  on  keramic  art, 
194,  21 1. 

Shikase-yama  or  Kaseyama  ware, 
230,  327. 

Shimane  Prefecture,  See  Izumo. 

Shimauchi,  painter  of  pottery,  389. 

Shimbei,  amateur  potter,  178. 

Shimbei,  Ban,  potters  of  several  gen- 
erations, 345,  346. 

Shinjo  Orie,  potter,  346. 

Shinkichi,  Higuchi,  117. 

Shinkuro,  Korean  potter  in  Chiku- 
zen,  313. 

Shino  lenobu,  master  of  tea  ceremonial, 
originates  Shino  ware,  276. 

Shino  ware,  276. 

Shinsaburo,  Ogata.  See  Kenzan. 

Shinsei,  Ogata.  See  Kenzan. 

Shinsuke,  Fuji,  potter,  115. 

Shintaro,  Kagiya,  potter,  188. 

Shinzo,  Funaki,  potter,  338. 

Shira- Bizen  332. 

Shiragi  ware,  traditional,  7. 

Shirai  Hanshichi,  potter,  385. 

Shiro-te  ware,  403. 

Shirozaemon  Kagenobu,  potter,  301. 

Shizuoka  Prefecture.  See  Totomi. 

Shoemon  Kagetada,  potter,  301. 

Shofu  Katei,  potter,  228. 

Shofil  ware,  321. 

Shohachi,  Kimura,  potter,  333. 

Shohaku,  Korean  potter  in  Tosa,  348. 


Shoi,  amateur  potter,  178. 

Shonosuki,  Nagaoka,  potter,  339. 
Shonzui  Gorodayu.  See  Asami  Goro- 
suke,  Gorodayu. 

Shoo,  patron  of  keramics,  369;  ware 
named  after  him,  369. 

Shorin,  Rokubei,  potter,  213. 
Shoshichi,  Takeshita,  potter,  115. 
Shoso-in  collection,  specimens  of 
pottery,  1 1 . 

Shoun,  Rokubei,  potter,  213. 

Shozan,  Okumura,  potter,  228. 
Shudei  ware,  374. 

Shuhei,  Ogata,  potter,  216;  figure 
subjects,  217;  in  Awaji,  351. 
Shunkei.  See  Kato  Shirozaemon. 
Shunkei  ware,  267. 

Shuntai  ware,  279. 

Shuzo,  Agano,  potter,  323. 

S5bei,  Kagiya,  potter,  196. 

Soeda  Kizaemon,  superintendent  of 
Okawachi  pottery,  95. 

Soejima  family,  potters,  1 1 5. 

Sogaku.  See  Zoroku. 

Sohachi,  Imamura,  potter,  107. 
Sohichi,  Chikuzen  potter,  his  ware, 
320. 

Sohku,  amateur  potter,  178. 

Sokei.  See  Masakichi. 

Sokichi,  Tanaka,  potter,  37. 

Soma  ware,  396. 

Somi,  Tanaka,  potter,  36. 

Sonkai,  Korean  potter  in  Higo,  321. 

See  also  Juji  Kizo,  Kizo. 

Soniu.  See  Kichizaemon  (Tanaka). 
Sonsho,  Magozaemon,  potter,  403. 
Sosendo.  See  Kawamoto  Jihei. 
Soshiro,  potter,  his  ware,  29,  326. 
Sotaro,  potter,  218. 

Sotdn-shigaraki  ware,  369. 

Sozaburo,  Nichimura,  son  of  Zen- 
goro,  potter,  223,  224. 

Sozaburo  of  Sukikai-bashi,  potter,  3 27. 
Suizaka  ware,  236. 

Sukehachi,  Ban,  potters  of  several 
generations,  345,  346. 

Sukehei,  Fukuda,  potter,  lo8. 


447 


INDEX 


Sukesaku,  Tashiro,  potter  and  mer- 
chant, 1 14. 

Sukikai-bashi,  Fushimi,  Fukakusa 
ware,  326. 

Sumiemon,  Nagaoka,  potter,  339. 

Sumi-no-suke,  Fukami,  potter,  114. 

Sumiya  Sakubei,  potter,  248. 

Sunkoroku  Satsuma  ware,  17 1. 

Suo  ware,  347. 

Susume-ga-tani  ware,  368. 

Suzuki  Kanehiro,  potter,  335. 

Tachibana-hada  ware,  403. 

Tachikui  ware,  398. 

Tadeno,  Satsuma,  factory,  establish- 
ment, 1 44  ; enamelled  ware,  1 46. 

Tahara  Kenji,  potter,  346. 

Taichiro,  Sawa,  potter,  339. 

Taizan  family,  potters,  199,  200; 
present  ware,  200. 

Tajimi  porcelain,  with  relief  model- 
ling, 305.^ 

Takada  Tobei,  potter,  117. 

Takahara  Goroshichi,  potter,  claim 
to  discovery  of  porcelain  stone,  55. 

Takahara  ware,  383. 

Takamatsu  ware,  342. 

Takatori,  Chikuzen  province,  intro- 
duction of  Korean  potters,  313; 
ancient  ware,  313;  early  produc- 
tions of  the  Koreans,  314;  im- 
provements, 314;  character  and 
value  of  the  ware,  315;  various 
locations  of  factory,  316;  varieties 
of  the  ware,  317;  modelled  figures, 
317  ; modern  kilns,  318. 

Takatori  Shigeki,  potter,  318. 

Takayama  family,  potters,  218. 

Takeji,  Fukami,  potter,  113,  114. 

Takemoto  Hayata,  potter,  417  ; por- 
celain after  Chinese  models,  418. 

Takenouchi  Kinshu,  potter,  revives 
Kutani  ware,  254. 

Takeshita  family,  potters,  115. 

Tamba  province,  Tachikui  ware, 
398  ; Sasayama  ware,  399. 

Tamiemon,  Setoguchi,  potter,  115. 

448 


Tamikichi,  Owari  potter,  acquires 
knowledge  of  porcelain  manufac- 
ture, 284—286  ; called  Yasukata, 
286;  character  of  his  ware,  292. 

Tamura  Gonzaemon,  potter,  237. 

Tamura  KyuKei,  potter,  352. 

Tanaka  family,  manufacturers  of 
Raku  ware,  32,  36,  37. 

Tanaka  Eiichi,  potter,  1 1 8. 

Tanaka  Sakai,  potter,  326. 

Tangen,  painter,  decorates  Satsuma 
ware,  143. 

T anniu.  S^^  Kichizaemon  (Tanaka). 

Tanyu,  painter,  connection  with 
Ninsei’s  ware,  185. 

Tanzan  Rokuro,  potter,  his  pate-sur- 
pate  ware,  201. 

Tanzan  Yoshitaro,  potter,  201. 

Taroemon  Kagesada,  potter,  301. 

Taroemon  of  Karatsu,  potter,  312. 

Tashiro  family,  potters,  114. 

Tasuke  Dainen,  amateur  potter,  381. 

Tatsuji,  Okushi,  potter,  115. 

Tatsumonji,  Satsuma,  pottery,  origin, 
139  ; early  enamelled  ware,  143  ; 
materials  used,  157  ; post-feudal 
conditions,  158. 

Tawara  ware,  356. 

Tea,  influence  of  introduction  on 
keramics,  1 2. 

Tea  ceremonial,  influence  on  keram- 
ics, 17,  50-53,  86,  177,  261, 
268-270,  398,  410. 

Teikichi,  Honda,  potter,  245,  248. 

Tei-no-jo,  Yama-no-uchi,  potter,  108. 

Teirin,  wife  of  Masakichi,  potter, 

32,  36. 

Teizo,  Agano,  potter,  323. 

Terami,  potter,  329. 

Teraoka  Genjiro,  potter,  374. 

Terra  cotta  figures,  387, 

Tetsuka  Kame-no-suke,  potter,  1 13. 

Tetsuzo,  Maeda,  potter,  115. 

Tobei,  Kawara,  potter,  139. 

Toda,  Imaizumi,  potter,  115. 

Toemon,  Sawa,  potters  of  several 
generations,  339. 


INDEX 


Tohachi,  potter,  316. 

Tokei,  Tanaka,  potter,  35,  36. 
Tokichi,  Chin,  potter,  141. 

Tokichi,  Hachizo,  potter,  316. 
Tokoname  ware,  280. 

Tokubei,  Agano,  potter,  324. 
Tokuemon,  Kagiya,  potter,  195. 
Tokugawa  epoch,  influence  on  ke- 
ramics,  88,  220. 

Tokuniu.  iS^ifKichizaemon (Tanaka). 
Tokuro,  potter,  199  ; descendants, 
199,  200. 

Tokuzen,  Eiraku,  potter,  224. 
Tokyo.  See  Yedo. 

Tonga,  potter,  329. 

Tonichi,  Imamura,  potter,  100,  107. 
Tonji,  potter,  100. 

Tonroku,  Koseki  or  Imamura,  Ko- 
rean potter  in  Hirado,  100,  107  ; 
descendants,  107. 

Torakichi  of  Kumano,  potter,  246. 
Torakichi  of  Kyoto,  potter,  246. 
Torakichi  of  Omi,  potter,  368. 
Toronosuke,  Sawa,  potter,  339. 
Torosuke,  Agano,  potter,  324. 

Tosa  province.  See  Kochi. 

Tosen.  See  Kentei. 

Tosen-koji,  potter,  188. 

Toshiro.  See  Kato  Shirozaemon. 
Toshiro,  Agano,  potters  of  several 
generations,  324. 

Toshiro  oflwaki,  potter,  396. 
Toshiro  ware,  13,  266,  270. 

Totomi  province,  Shidoro  ware,  333— 
335  ; modelled  ware,  335. 

T oy obara,  Higo,  Yatsushiro  ware,  322. 
Toyonosuke.  See  Kajo  Mimpei. 
Toyosuke  ware,  281. 

Tozaburo,  descendant  of  Toshiro, 
potter,  272. 

Tozan,  Ito,  potter,  229. 

Tozan  porcelain,  372. 

Trade,  Kaempfer  on  Japanese  foreign, 
40;  Japanese  advantages  in  keramic, 
7 1 ; Dutch  in  Japanese  keramic,  75, 
76,  82,  86,  123,  126;  keramic, 
with  other  Eastern  nations,  87. 
VOL.  VIII. 29 


Tsuchiya  family,  potters,  337,  338. 
Tsuchi-yama,  Kaga,  pottery,  247. 
Tsuji  family,  potters,  113. 

Tsuji  Seizaemon,  potter,  374. 
Tsukuya  Sen,  potter,  254. 

Tsunekata,  Fuji,  potter,  117. 
Tsunekichi,  potter,  316. 

Tsushiro  Kichibei,  potter,  355. 
Tsutsutaro,  Imamura,  potter,  107. 

Uchi  ware.  See  Raku. 

Ueda  Kichizaemon,  potter,  354. 
Uemon,  Higuchi,  potter,  107,  108. 
Ueno  ware,  404. 

Ungetsu.  See  Moemon  (Soejima). 
Unkaku,  Soejima,  potter,  1 1 5. 
Unren-in  Yasunari,  potter,  187. 
Unrin-in  Yasushito,  Prince,  potter, 
176. 

Unshiu.  See  Izumo. 

Uozumi  ware,  374. 

Urakawa  Yoemon,  potter,  118. 

Wad  A,  potter,  346. 

Wagenaar,  Dutch  factor,  influence 
on  Japanese  porcelain,  77-80. 
Wagener,  G.,  development  of  faience 
decoration,  391. 

Wahamatsu.  See  Aizu. 

Wakafuji  Genjiro,  potter,  254. 
Wakasugi,  Kaga,  beginning  of  ke- 
ramic industry,  246,  248  ; char- 
acter of  the  ware,  246,  247,  251  ; 
removal  of  the  factory,  247. 
Wakayama  Prefecture.  See  Kishiu. 
Wake  Heikichi.  See  Kitei. 
Warabi-de^  method  of  decorating 
Kyoto  faience,  198,  200. 

Wazen,  Nishimura  or  Eiraku,  son  of 
Zengoro,  potter,  223,  224  ; in 
Kaga,  223,  252. 

Yaeu  Rokuemon,  conducts  a pottery 
at  Tsuchi-yama,  247. 

Yahachiro,  Agano,  potter,  324. 
Yahei,  Kawara,  potter,  158. 

Yahei,  Tanaka,  potter,  36. 


449 


INDEX 


Yaichiro,  Agano,  potter,  324. 

Yajibei,  Funaki,  potter,  336,  338. 

Yajibei,  Ivvamura,  potter,  discovers 
the  A makusa  porcelain  stone,  10 1, 
107  ; deified,  loi. 

Yajiro,  Higuchi,  potter,  107. 

Yakichi,  Mikuni,  potter,  373. 

Yamada  Nagamasa,  in  Siam,  214. 

Yamaguchi  Prefecture.  See  Nagato, 
Suo  ware. 

Yamamoto  family,  potters,  139. 

Yamamoto  Tatsunosuke,  potter,  229. 

Yamamoto,  Satsuma,  pottery,  139. 

Yama-no-uchi  family,  potters,  108. 

Yamashiro,  Asahi  ware,  355  ; Tawara 
ware,  356. 

Yamashita  Magoroku,  potter,  346. 

Yamato  province,  Akahada  ware, 
.356-358.  _ 

Yamazaki  Heinai,  potter,  348. 

Yanase  Jimbei,  potter,  318. 

Yanase  Shunzo,  potter,  3 i 8. 

Yashima  ware,  342. 

Yasubei,  various  potters,,  descendants 
ofYasuchika,  187,  188.  See  also 
Hozan. 

Yasuchika,  Minamoto  no,  potter, 
176;  descendants,  187,  188. 

Yasuji,  Yama-no-uchi,  potter,  108. 

Yasukata.  See  Tamikichi. 

Yasukichi,  Tashiro,  potter,  114. 

Yatsushiro  ware,  322-324;  revival, 
324  ; character  of  modern  ware, 

^ 325- 

Yazaemon,  Fukuda,  potter,  109. 

Yazaemon  Kageyori,  potter,  301. 

Yedo,  first  pottery,  384;  Imado 
ware,  384;  Raku  mosaics  and 
modelled  ware,  386;  Banko  ware, 
387;  Onizva  ware,  387;  porcelain, 
388,  418;  surface  decorators,  388- 
392  ; Takata  ware,  392  ; Koren 
ware,  393;  Koishikawa  ware,  394. 

Yohei,  Mori,  pottery,  and  the  Yusetsu 
ware,  363. 


Yohei,  Taizan,  Awata  potters  of 
various  generations,  199,  200. 

Yohei,  Yama-no-uchi,  potter,  108. 

Yojibei,  potter,  312. 

Yorasaku,  Higuchi,  potter,  108. 

Yoshida  Denemon,  revives  the  Kutani 
ware,  249. 

Yoshida  Hikoroku,  potter,  403. 

Yoshida-mura,  Hizen,  pottery,  115. 

Yoshiemon,  patron  of  keramic  art, 

*39: 

Yoshihiro,  chief  of  Satsuma,  patron  of 
keramic  industry,  135— 137,  141. 

Yoshimasa,  Ashikaga  Shogun,  as  an 
art  patron,  17. 

Yosobei  Kagemitzu,  potter,  301. 

Yosobei  of  Kyoto,  potter,  227. 

Yosoemon,  Mori,  potter,  333. 

Yozaemon,  Hasegawa,  potter,  202. 

Yujiro,  potter,  247. 

Yuriaki,  emperor,  edict  on  royal  pot- 
tery, 7. 

Yusetsu,  Mori,  potter,  counterfeits 
Banko  ware,  361  ; original  devel- 
opments, 362  ; character  of  his 
ware,  362  ; development  in  hands 
of  his  son,  363  ; varieties  and 
essential  feature  of  the  ware,  364. 

Yusetsusai.  See  Takenouchi  Kinshu. 

Zengoro,  Nishimura,  potter,  ancestry, 
219,  225;  early  work,  219; 

irhitations,  220,  221  ; patronage 
of  the  chief  of  Kishu,  220-222, 
375  ; his  glazes,  220  ; marks, 
221,  222,  375  ; ware,  220,  223  ; 
at  Kaseyama,  222  ; at  Omuro, 
223  ; at  Otsu,  223  ; sons,  223  ; 
versatility,  224. 

Zenshiro,  Tsuchiya,  potters  of  sev- 
eral generations,  337,  338. 

Zeze,  Omi,  ancient  kilns,  365  ; 
various  wares,  366—368. 

Zoroku,  Mashimizu,  potter,  225. 

Zuishi  porcelain,  378. 


450 


i 


